Bat

When I was out running yesterday I came across a bat in a bush right beside the trail. (This was on the lower dirt trail beside the river, not the paved Meewasin trail.) From a little research on the internet I think it was probably a little brown bat. It was alive but only barely moving. I'm guessing it wasn't healthy since it was right out in the open in broad daylight.

Bats can carry rabies. According to Wikipedia "Rabid bats usually lose their ability to fly, and rarely become aggressive. Careless handling of bats is the main cause of rabies transmission, which has resulted in five human cases in Canada since 1925. Fewer than 2% of bats in Canada are rabid, 95% of which are big brown bats."

Millions of bats in North America are dying from white nose syndrome, but this bat didn't appear to have a white nose (caused by a fungus).

It was gone by the time I returned from my run, someone could have done something with it, or maybe it moved by itself.





Bats are fascinating creatures. It's too bad so many people have an irrational fear and dislike of them. At the very least we should appreciate them for eating mosquitoes! It was nice to see this one up close in daylight.