Rangers warn visitors to watch out for flying rabid bats at one National Park

Key Points:

• Visitors at Washington's Olympic National Park have been swooped on by bats infected with rabies, including an incident where a bat got temporarily caught in a woman's hair near the Staircase Rapids Bridge.
• The National Park Service urges anyone who may have had contact with bats in the area to seek medical advice immediately, even without a bite, and to notify local health authorities; pet owners are also advised to consult veterinarians if their animals had contact with bats.
• While bats are vital for ecosystems and pest control, less than 1% carry rabies, though they remain the leading cause of human rabies deaths in the U.S., with very rare human cases typically resulting from bites.
• Rabies is a fatal disease affecting the central nervous system but can be prevented with prompt vaccination after exposure; symptoms include flu-like illness, agitation, excessive saliva, and hallucinations, with severe disease developing within two weeks.
• Washington state hosts 15 bat species active mostly in warmer months, and despite misconceptions, bats do not typically get entangled in hair nor feed on blood, with only a very small fraction carrying rabies.