Are Bats out of Hibernation in North Carolina yet?

Question

This is probably stemming from my fear of Rabies and extreme paranoia of one of my family members getting it.

What I want to know is if Bats are awake from Hibernation yet and do they wake up from Hibernating if they happen to be sick with Rabies?.

I'm honestly at lost at how my mind works but because a scare I had last year after my puppy had died from the Parvovirus(which at the time I thought was Rabies because of her vomiting foam).

The reason I ask this is because the other day at about lunchtime (March 20th), we were playing with styrofoam plains and one landed in a bush, my little sister retrieved it and(thanks to my paranoia) I instantly thought that a Bat was in the bush and bit her without knowing.

I went over and shook the bush and surveyed the area a few moments later to see if anything was in the bush or laying on the ground, but as I SHOULD'VE expected, there was nothing.

Answer 1

Yes, bats should be active in zone 8 now, which includes most of NC. You are letting your fear run away with your imagination. Most bats never have rabies and in NC it would be very unusual for any bat that lives there to bite a person unless it was threatened. They are usually a very timid animal and would avoid a confrontation. I agree with the first answerer--if this fear has caused you to live your life differently you might want to talk to someone.

Answer 2

That's the thing about fear, isn't it - much of the time it's just not rational. I could tell you that bats are still hibernating, and that even when they are active you have very little to worry about, but it probably wouldn't make any great difference in how you feel, especially after such a painful experience with your puppy. The most effective cure for fears that I've ever found is knowledge - perhaps if you learned about bats you might become less terrified by the prospect of catching disease from them. If you wanted to do that, your local zoo might be a good place to start researching, and your library. Most people who work in an area love to talk about it, so don't feel shy about asking questions. Me, I grew up with a thriving colony of bats in the attic of our farmhouse, and not only did nobody I know ever get rabies, but nobody ever even got bit. That may not help much, but from my knowledge and experience people have a far higher chance of catching bite-transmitted diseases like rabies from their own pets than they do from wild animals, and if they do get bit by a wild animal, it's far likelier to be a fox or raccoon than a bat. Either way, it's very rare nowadays. There are lots of things to be worried about in this world, but rabies and bats I'd put pretty low on the list, if that helps.
Did you ever talk to anyone about how bad your puppy's death made you feel? That might be a good thing to do, too.

Answer 3

Sounds like you do have a very active imagination. Please do some research on bats and you will find that they are not very dangerous at all, and very beneficial to the ecosystem by ridding the world of harmful insects such as mosquitos that are more likely to bite you and give you a disease than a bat would be. Many species are important pollinators of many fruits as well. The more you know, the less afraid I think you will be. Here is a good link to start with:

http://www.batcon.org/home/index.asp?idPage=91&idSubPage=62