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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
I believe the expression goin' batty originated from the way people reacted when a bat became enmeshed in their hair. Better watch it there, Dub-Dub. 
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
according to Lipton's "An Exaltation of Larks", rabbits, ants, gulls and bats all come in... get ready for the ultramundane... colonies.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Search says no prior use of "he's got bats in his belfry" to mean someone is nuts.
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 13
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 13 |
How about a nocturne of bats ... seeing as they only fly at night. BTW bats are also good for air conditioning. The story goes that no-one could figure out why the Taj Mahal remained so cool in the summer heat. Then someone discovered a colony of bats [and their guano] in the roof.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 161
member
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member
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 161 |
TEd,As a microbiologist by training I though that your story might not be entirely correct. The rabies are caused by a virus and viruses can not multiply in faeces, they need a living organism to reproduce themselves. That’s why spreading of rabies usually require that the victim is bitten by a diseased animal (dog, fox, bat) so the saliva, which contains the virus is in direct contact with broken skin. I found a document titled “Managing Health Hazards Associated with Birds and Bats Excrements” by US Environmental Hygiene Agency http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/imo/ddb/dmd/DMD/TG/TECHGUID/Tg142.pdf They say there that an airborne rabies infection has been demonstrated only in one cave in Texas. So either a friend of your friend has been unfortunate to breathe in a wrong place in Texas or he’s been scratched or bitten by a bat. 
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Thanks, vika, for posting the address here about bats, birds, and rabies. This is something that has been on my mind for quite a while.
And it does appear that the friend of Ted's friend went into the wrong cave--but he was a bat expert so I suppose he thought he had enough knowledge to go where others with less expertise in the field would dare to tread. Tragic story there.
Bat regards,
WW
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
a nocturne of batsI love this one... nocturne! And welcome to the board, troubador! 
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Vika: I was an epidemiologist in MA Public Health Division of Infectious Diseases in
early 1950s when bat rabies was first discovered in US. At that time it was thought
that the few cases of human rabies in people who explored caves where vampire bats
were numerous might be caused by aerosols of rabies virus. That risk has indeed turned
out to be very small. I found one site that said only two cases :
"two human deaths probably due to nonbite aerosol transmission".
If it has been documented in one cave in Texas, it seems quite possible it could
occur in other similar caves. I'm glad it is so rare.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
I love this one...nocturne! ..and just after sundown when the colony takes flight there's a nocturnal emission. I think "nocturne" works well for, say, fruit bats - but is a bit romantic and fluffy for vampire bats, especially at this time of year. If the bats were reeling around the sky in a drunken fashion they could be a bevvy of bats.
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