On 20/5/08 16:20, in article , "Malcolm"
wrote:


In article , Sacha
writes
On 20/5/08 11:16, in article , "Martin
Brown" wrote:
snip

Officially you are not supposed to handle bats without a license but the
local bat watch taught me how to do it to avoid being called out every
time one got itself into trouble. We have a summer roost of about 200
pipestrelles - and they eat a lot of mozzies!

Well, if it was lift it up or let it die - no choice here! The chap
concerned is the son of a farmer so handling bats is nothing new for him.

Maybe, but one of the reasons for not handling bats (at least without
gloves), apart from them being protected and all that, is that they can
carry the bat version of rabies, known as Lyssavirus. All licensed bat
workers are required to be vaccinated.

Have a read of:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/dise...t-research.htm

I knew the Scottish bat worker who died :-(

Ugh! I'm very sorry to hear of it, Malcolm. And I will check on the glove
situation and warn everyone. I hope it's unlikely the advice will be needed
but thank you for telling me.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'