OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA. (KOKH) — WildCare Oklahoma has reported numerous evening bats found grounded in downtown Oklahoma City.
Officials with the non-profit believe it is due to construction activities near the Oklahoma County Courthouse.
The bats are migrating south for the winter and cannot take flight from the ground. Residents are advised not to touch grounded bats and to contact WildCare Oklahoma at 405-872-9338 or Oklahoma Animal Welfare at 405-297-2255.
Bats can carry rabies, though rabies is not common.
WildCare Oklahoma believes a combination of cooler weather and the construction downtown is scaring bats out of crevices in parking garages.
“When we were down there assessing, they were all over the building, and then on the curbs, in the street, just kind of like wherever you could see them on the ground,” said wildlife rehabilitation manager Mackenzie Thomas.
Thomas says bats need an elevated surface to push off of in order to fly, which is why they saw so many on the ground.
Now, if you do see a bat, Thomas says not to touch it, unlike what little Logan Cornett did.
“One time I saw a bat and I thought it was a mouse, and then I picked it up,” Logan said.
He thought it was harmless.
“Then it showed me its wings,” he said.
His mother said they had to go to the emergency room. “He got an immunoglobulin shot and a rabies shot there,” Marek Cornett said. “Then we were able to go to a second facility that has his rabies shots for his third and fourth rounds of shots.”
Thomas says not all bats carry rabies, but you don’t want to take your chances. She says if you do see a grounded bat, contact WildCare so they can take you through the right process step by step.
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