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Is it true that bats can attack people when starving ? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Intet
- Start date
Stuart Watson
Well-known member
Vampire bats have been reported to suck human blood. Don`t leave your window open if you`re sleeping in South America. Toes peeking out the bottom of the duvet are partiularly vulnerable, and when they bite, they inject `stuff` to stop the blood clotting. Then they simply wait until their stomachs are full, and fly off leaving your punctured artery to bleed dry. Many cattle die in South America this way each year.
Don`t have nightmares :gn:
Don`t have nightmares :gn:
Doug Greenberg
Well-known member
Intet said:
Here's a recent story on this subject from what I hope is a reliable source:
Vampire bats on attack in Brazil
Bites from rabies-carrying vampire bats killed 13 people in a north-eastern Brazilian state last month, the health ministry said on Friday.
The ministry said the record number of deaths was matched by an increase in bat attacks to about 300.
A programme to vaccinate domestic animals and people deemed at risk will begin in the area next week.
One report suggests scientists believe deforestation may be a factor behind the increase in attacks.
Vampire bats feed on mammalian blood, and can pass on rabies from animals to humans.
Laboratory tests have proven that six deaths in Para state were due to human rabies linked to bat bites, said health official Fernando Dourado, speaking to reporters in Belem on Friday.
Test results have not yet arrived for the seven other victims, but they displayed similar symptoms and had also been bitten.
Three people remain ill in hospital, one critically.
The cases appear to be concentrated in areas close to Marajo - the world's biggest estuarine archipelago.
More bats?
A health ministry spokesman told Reuters news agency government scientists believed the more aggressive behaviour of the bats could be linked to deforestation.
Greater availability of livestock, coupled with less vegetation for fruit-eating bats, could have favoured an increase in the numbers of vampire bats.
Deforestation could also force changes in bats' migration patterns, affecting their population and behaviour.
A doctor at the hospital where the patients died, Carmem Andrea Freitos, has also noticed changes in the incubation period of rabies in her recent patients.
Typically, patients with human rabies die an average of 20 days after being bitten, reported the regional newspaper O Liberal, but Dr Freitos says some of her patients were bitten up to six months ago.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Gus Horsley
Well-known member
I don't know of any native bats in northern Europe that would be capable of launching any sort of serious attack on a human. I was nibbled by a greater horseshoe whilst doing a cave survey once. The animal was clearly very agitated but it could hardly be described as a ferocious assault - it had a go at my thumb but couldn't break the skin!
Gus
Gus
David FG
The Big Dipper
Gus Horsley said:
There was recently (well, a year or so ago) an incident of a researcher contracting rabies in the UK from a bat which had flown across the channel. He was handling the bat for study purposes and rather stupidly he was not wearing gloves. Apart from the fact that the bat must have broken the skin, I can't remember any other details.
Gus Horsley
Well-known member
Yeah, I sort of remember that one. Like you, I can't recall the details. They can break the skin if they get a sensitive spot, not a thumb. I think the chances of catching rabies from resident bats in Britain is almost non-existant but there have been urban myths about it in the past. Perhaps we'll get a swarm of rabid killer bats through the channel tunnel one day. Keep away from Kent if that happens!
Gus
Gus
James Lowther
Well-known member
I might be wrong but i think two or three individuals (all bat handlers) have unfortunately been killed by bat rabies in the last 30 years in the whole of europe.
Bat rabies is not endemic in british bat populations anyway.
didn't stop the calls for bat culls when the last case occurred however.
Bat rabies is not endemic in british bat populations anyway.
didn't stop the calls for bat culls when the last case occurred however.
CornishExile
rydhsys rag Kernow lemmyn!
Actually, they can't fly away once their stomachs are full. Their body weight increases so much that they have to go crawl under a bush or similar until they've digested the blood. Can't remember how long that takes, but I think it was at least an hour. But that may be a lie.Stuart Watson said:
To the rest of you: people have been telling me that recently a bat ringer in Scotland has died of rabies. Although apparently this was also his own fault, as he chose not to go to hospital after being bitten. If you are very concerned about your personal welfare I suggest a rabies vaccination and common sense.
London Birder
Well-known member
if a bat was starving it would hardly have the strength to make a meal out of some bloke would it!
Lizzerd said:Actually, they can't fly away once their stomachs are full. Their body weight increases so much that they have to go crawl under a bush or similar until they've digested the blood. Can't remember how long that takes, but I think it was at least an hour. But that may be a lie.
To the rest of you: people have been telling me that recently a bat ringer in Scotland has died of rabies. Although apparently this was also his own fault, as he chose not to go to hospital after being bitten. If you are very concerned about your personal welfare I suggest a rabies vaccination and common sense.
Are you saying rabies is in the UK??
saluki
Well-known member
willowa said:
Hi Willow,
There've been four cases of bats found with the European Bat Lyssavirus Type 2 strain of rabies in the last 19 years in the UK - so I wouldn't go dashing down to the hospital for that jab just yet! : )
Here's a link to the Scottish case:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2509375.stm
saluki
robski
Well-known member
At dusk during the summer months bats can be seen skimming just about our heads in the garden. I forget they are there most of the time. During the 25 years I have lived here the chances of getting bitten by a mosquito are 10,000 times more than being bitten by a bat.
Bride of Dracula
Bride of Dracula
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