Austin Health Officials Seek Possibly Russian Visitors Who Handled Bat At Lady Bird Lake

AUSTIN, TX — SXSW lures thousands of participants from all over the world, eager to immerse themselves in the massive convergence of interactive, film and music industries But among the uninitiated, rules are sometimes inadvertently broken about what not to do when visiting Austin.

Key among these dont's: Do not touch the bats living under the Congress Avenue bridge.

Last week, staffers at Waller Creek Boathouse told city health officials that four possible, possibly Russian, were boasting of having scooped up a bat into a kayak while floating along Lady Bird Lake, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

The bat may have been distressed in some way or disoriented leaving its millions of nocturnal feeders, judging from the foreigners' talk of having rescued the animal.

Despite the good intentions, that would be a definite nyet. City health officials now are hoping to find the visitors to make sure they haven't been infected with rabies.

Watching the hundreds of thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats emerge for their nightly search for insects is one of those uniquely Austin experiences that's hard to convey to a non-resident. The show is telegraphed by the sight of scores of people — bikers, joggers, walkers, natives and tourists alike — pausing to gaze across the Colorado River early evening, anticipating the emergence of between 750,000 to 2 million bats from their sleeping quarters under the bridge.

The bats eat up to 20,000 insects every night, including those nasty mosquitoes. Those of us living in Austin love the bats for their mosquito-eating preference alone, knowing that these flying mammals eat nearly 30,000 pounds of them and other insects from April to October.

It's quite an extraordinary sight, and it never gets old.

But those of us living in Austin know enough not to touch the bats. We love them, but we don't touch them. The dangers of touching the bats have been drilled into us as one of those guidelines of living in Austin.

As for those possibly Russian guests, the health department would like anyone with information as to their identities and whereabouts to call them at (512) 972-5555.

The don't-touch-the-bats policy applies to anyone who's a newcomer to Austin, particularly those in town this week for SXSW. The Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department offers the following tips as it relates to bats:

• Many bats enter homes, apartments and businesses through unscreened windows and opened doors—particularly when the weather is nice in the fall and spring.
• Bats will generally leave a building on their own, given the chance.
• If you find a bat in a room, do not try to catch it (unless testing is necessary because a person or pet has been sleeping in the room while the bat was present).
• To encourage a bat to leave on its own, open windows, turn the lights on, and leave the room, closing the door behind you and keep children and pets out of the area.
• Check the area every few hours to see if the bat has departed—it may take up to 18 hours for a bat to leave a resting place.
• If you must remove a resting bat from a room because there’s no way to avoid contact with people or pets, wear thick leather gloves and carefully place a wide-mouthed cup, jar, or coffee can over the resting bat, slip a piece of cardboard between the opening and the resting surface, then take the container outdoors to release the bat..
• NEVER HANDLE A BAT—ALIVE OR DEAD—WITH YOUR BARE HANDS!
• Keep people and pets away from a sick, injured or dead bat and call Animal Control at 3-1-1.

Rabies exposure occurs only when a person is bitten or scratched by a potentially rabid animal, or when abrasions, open wounds, or mucous membranes are contaminated with the saliva, brain, or nervous system tissue of a potentially rabid animal, Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department officials said.

It may take several weeks or longer for people to show symptoms after being infected with rabies, according to health officials. The early signs of rabies can be fever or headache, but this changes quickly to nervous system signs such as confusion, sleepiness, or agitation.

"Once someone with a rabies infection starts having these symptoms, that person usually does not survive," health officials write on the municipal website. "This is why it is critical to talk to your doctor or health care provider right away if any animal bites you, especially a wild animal."

>>> Photo credit: Dtobias via Wikimedia Commons