I was going to respondo to Scott privately but saw a comment about "not less than 80% of our bats have rabies" or something like that. As far as I know, and I have done weeks of research on the topic of local bats, bats are NOT asymptomatic carriers of rabies. If they get rabies, they get sick and die. Unfortunately, this is usually the time when humans encounter them, thus the belief that most bats have rabies. If you find a sick or injured bat, don't touch with bare hands. I have coaxed a silver haired into a shoe box and then contacted a bat rehabber (awesome job!!!) To see how to handle the bat to remove large webs on its thumb and in its mouth. I called Meg at Happy Valley Bats, a number I have saved in my phone, and she figured out species from a text photo and said basic garden gloves were fine because they have very small teeth.
Also, I would say most of our bats are big and little brown bats. I am impressed that someone has seen hoary bats because those are very large, usually solo, and so cool looking! FYI, little brown bats weigh less than one penny!!! Ok, I will stop, I have an entire PowerPoint about our local bats, I love them and could annoy you all for hours. Feel free to contact me with more questions. And yes, BCI is a great resource!
Hope Anderson
Hopea1994 at aol.com
Sekiu, WA

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