A bat box at Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Norfolk
NORFOLK, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — In the heat of summer, animal control centers around the Commonwealth have been seeing an increase in calls about bat encounters, and a local animal control expert shared some tips on what to do if you see a bat in your home.
Animal control centers usually see a surge of bat calls in the summer, said Hilary Cohen, the animal control officer in Norfolk. “It’s not uncommon that this time of year we do get a lot of bat calls.”
Bats like to hide in attics, which offer more protection and shelter than the outdoors. However, when attics heat up in the summer, the animals sometimes move to lower levels of buildings and houses, leading to encounters with humans.
“If you do see a bat in your house, try not to panic. I know everybody thinks that they’re like little pterodactyls flying around," said Cohen.
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Cohen clarified the potential risk caused by bats being in the same living spaces as people. “It’s not like the old stories where you see bats going after livestock and draining animals or people of their blood.”
But, bats cohabiting in the same spaces as humans can pose a rabies risk, which is a serious disease and can be fatal.
“If the bat were to land on you while you were sleeping and potentially had bitten you, you may not have noticed it while you were slumbering.”
That’s why it’s important to contact your local animal control center if you see a bat inside your home, explained Cohen.
However, bats generally have a positive impact on human lives, serving an important role in curtailing the bug population, which tends to surge in the hot months.
Bats “are the clean-up crew of all of our bugs and insects every night. They can eat [an amount equal to] their body weight each time.”
And if you do see a bat, “please don’t hit them with tennis rackets or something sharp or heavy or blunt force tools. Just call us,” said Cohen.
WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.
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