Big Jim
Member
cap 'n chris said:Being in possession of one, dead or alive, (without a permit!), is an offence, yes.
Chris, not quite true. You are allowed to Tend/care for a bat solely for the purpose of restoring it to health and subsequent release. There have been recent changes to the Habitats Regulations which will now require anyone keeping injured bats for longer than 6 months (I seem to remember) to have a licence to do so. This is something some bat workers do with bats who's injuries will mean they will never be able to be released and hence they use these captive bats for eduction purposes.
As regards the Rabies - lets try and keep it in perspective... 7 bats out of over 6000 tested < 0.1%. The chanches of anyone not involved with bat work getting bitten is also extremely minimal - unless they are of course handling a bat without an NE licence to do so. Daubentons, like most myotis bats (which do use caves) tend to be tucked away in crevices out of reach/sight (unlike Horseshoe sp.)
If you really are that worried about the risk - go get pre-exposure jabs.
Link below to BCT report....
http://www.bats.org.uk/news.php/17/daubentons_bat_tests_positive_for_european_bat_lyssavirus_type_2