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La trip turns into er trip

3K views 19 replies 16 participants last post by  Acuna 
#1 ·
My dad and I decided to head out to WAKE austin this evening for our first father son trip on my new boat. We launched at 360 bridge and it was a freaking madhouse... It would have been impossible to fish where I wanted at first because there were so many damn boats on the water. After jacking around fishing water my dad insisted we fish and not getting bit I finally convinced him to let me take him where some fish were and we found some. We caught quite a few on top water baits and some on t-rigged rattlesnakes. THEN while my dad was throwing his top water he was reeling in leaves and grass all day. It was starting to get dark and he reeled in his grass covered lure, he couldn't really see so he tried to take off what he thought was a leaf and it was actually a BAT. Yes he caught a freaking bat! He said a curse word or two after he realized the damn thing bit his thumb. I immediately started strapping the things down to head to the ramp and my "invincible" dad was just saying oh it will be fine it didn't even draw blood. Good thing I saw a show on the discovery channel over this stuff and told him the fangs are too small to draw blood and that rabies is transferred through saliva. I threw the bat attached to the hook in the cooler. As he was trying to tell me it was alright, I was already on my way back to the ramp pretty much saying shut the duck up. We get to the ramp and a guy who heard me on the phone with 311 said GET to the er immediately. We arrived at seton around 9:45 and didn't get home till 1:45. I went home after the first 2 hours of being the hospital when my mom got there. The doctor said that the bat is most likely rabid because of williamson counties HUGE population of rabid bats. She also said that if it would have gone untreated immediately he wouldn't have symptoms for weeks or months and then it would be almost 100% fatal. My mom called me and told me they stuck 4, 6 inch syringes into his thumb and that my dad said it was the worst pain he has ever felt in his entire life. He now has to go back to the doc in 3 days for more needles then 6 days then 15 then 20 bla bla bla. I thank god that i had the instinct to get him to a doctor no matter what he said. When i gave the bat to the animal control, the guy said that tons of people die from rabies because the bite doesn't draw blood and they just shake it off.

Sorry that was a lot just thought I would share this crazy fishing story with yall. I have a video of the bat on the lure but il put it up later. Hopefully I will catch more bass than bats in the future.
 
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#5 · (Edited)
Wow, that's terrible but glad you got your dad to go to the ER. Rabies can be terrible, do they test the bat and then discontinue treatment if its negative? I hope all goes well for your dad.
 
#14 ·
A few years back I was headed down the lake late at night, heard a small "thump", wasn't sure what it was. I put the boat on the trailer at the neighborhood ramp. I'm cleaning all the chunks of hydrilla and milfoil off the deck in the dark. And noticed that the last one I grabbed was a DEAD BAT. Apparently I went to the TDub school of medicine......I quickly proceeded to wash my fingers with the harshest water spot remover, plus Simple Green, plus Windex.

Those things hit my line all the time when i'm senko fishing in the dark. I've hit a couple while casting. All you need to do is look up, catch a good backlit backround, and you'll see how many are above the water on Lake Austin.

My guess is that your Dad's bait stuck one on a cast.

Going to the ED was the smartest thing
 
#15 ·
Thanks for sharing.




you did the right thing.


RabiesYou can be infected with the rabies virus if you are bitten by an animal that has the disease. You can also get rabies if the saliva from a rabid animal gets in your eyes, nose, or mouth. This can happen if you get saliva on your fingers and then touch your face. Another way you can get rabies is by having the saliva of a rabid animal contact open cuts on your skin. If you have such contact with a rabid animal, only a series of injections (shots) can keep you from getting the disease. For this treatment to work well, it must be given soon after contact with the rabid animal.
If you are bittenIf an animal bites you, follow these steps. They may save your life.
  • Quickly and thoroughly wash the bite with soap and water. Rinse it well. Put an antiseptic on it to kill germs.
  • See a doctor as soon as possible. The doctor will decide if you need treatment to prevent rabies.
  • Describe the animal that bit you – the kind, size, and color – to the doctor, local rabies control authority, or animal control officer. Tell children to get help from a teacher, nurse, parent, policeman, school guard, or other adult. Try to locate the animal or keep track of it if you know where it lives. Remember what it looked like and where it can be found.
  • The local rabies control authority needs to have any biting dog, cat, or domestic ferret tested for rabies or observed for 10 days. If the quarantined dog, cat, or domestic ferret is alive 10 days after the bite, it could not have given you rabies. If the animal shows signs of rabies or dies during the observation period, it must be tested for rabies.
Biting skunks, bats, foxes, coyotes, and raccoons must be tested for rabies. If you are bitten by another kind of animal, the local rabies control authority will decide if it needs to be tested or observed for rabies
 
#16 ·
Yup, now i have to go get shots. When I lifted the lure to give to the animal control guy, it shook its head and got saliva on me and i have open cuts all over my hands. My moms freaking out i hope that bat comes back negative! AND WOW thats so cool that the guy with the bat is on this fourm haha! You can keep that bat lure thanks for asking though! Please as soon as you find out if the bat is rabid or not if you could contact me because i need to know immediately to see if i need shots or not!
 
#17 ·
Thanks basstracker it is a small world. Yeah I will keep an ear open, but most likely you will know before I do. I have been bitten by a few animals at work and so far they were all neg. and I always found out before anyone else. They will either call you and/or mail you the results. Crazy stuff I always see them out there never thought anyone would hook one.

Wes
 
#18 ·
WOW. Good instinct. That's all I can say. Even if the doctor is just being precautionary. A bunch of needles is better than the alternative.

I did notice A LOT of bats when I was out on Friday. Flying right in front of my face; it was even worse when I turned on my head lamp to work on tackle or whatever. They were chasing my lures when I cast, and I regularly saw then hit my line. This is a good warning for everyone, but it sucks that it happened.
 
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