This “cat catching a bat video”, which you can see below (no longer available – sorry), is amusing. What’s amusing about it is Nick Millerr’s complete panic about the whole thing although I don’t condone or like his attitude towards his cat for bringing in the bat as he calls her a “bitch”. This is also sexist regarding humans. Putting that and the copious use of the F word aside, for a moment, it is funny.
I am disappointed that Mr Millerr missed his opportunity to eject the bat from his home just when his cat deposited it on the carpet. At the time Millerr was filming the whole thing. He could have placed a towel over the bat and carefully picked it up with the bat trapped inside and released it. But no, he’d rather film it for his Twitter Feed. Fine.
My Cat thought it would be a good idea to catch me a fucking bat last night. pic.twitter.com/smiATa8spk
— Nick (@NickMillerr_) July 25, 2016
It is not uncommon for embedded videos to disappear because if they are held on Twitter or Facebook the administrators of those website delete the video at source and therefore all the embedded versions of it also disappear as is the case in this instance. I am sorry for that. All you are left with is a link that goes to Twitter which tells you that the video is no longer available.
One serious side story to this is that bats are one of the biggest carriers of rabies in the USA (I think Millerr realised that) and therefore both his cat and him were at a little bit of a risk of getting rabies. I am sure the risk was low but it was there nonetheless.
I was surprised to see that there are many “cat catching bat” videos on YouTube. Cats obviously catch a lot of bats in the USA. It can’t be that uncommon. It is one reason why even indoor cats need to be vaccinated for rabies. A bat can fly into a home and then you could have genuine chaos if the bat carried the disease.
Only those who defy the law should have a rabies concern. All cats are required to be vaccinated in the U.S.
It’s, generally, quite evident when any animal is infected with rabies.
So, I agree. This very foul-mouthed person should have just, safely, removed this animal to the outside.
Yes, and when we have bats we have a lot of them. I had them in the tall, dense Italian cypress trees on my lot. My calico cat Callie swatted at them from the roof of my truck next to them, as they flew around the trees at dusk. I didn’t even see them at first because they flew so fast. When I took flash photos, they could be seen in the pics. I worried about rabies too. Once I knew they were there, I didn’t let her out when they flew, and I had the trees removed. Bats are actually protected here, (natural pest control) so if I had asked local wildlife officials about them, they would have said not to destroy them or… I don’t know what… a possible fine I guess.
Interesting Albert. I have a clear sense that you have more bats in America or at least in certain parts of America than we do here in the UK. It is probably due to the climatic conditions in America which are more suitable for bats.
In May 2016 while going for my early morning “Cycling /Free Hand Exercises” spotted a tiny fruit bat lying on the lobby just outside our building lift. I was just in time to rescue it before our building cat “Champa” was about to devour it as a breakfast snack.Brought the tiny bat home and kept it on my garden balcony Bonsai tree.Seems to be either sick or injured.It is now resting in my balcony and hope it flies off tonight. A few large “Flying Foxes” live on the large banyan tree of our building which also has squirrels and koels. Old Prabhadevi is a well forested ;locality despite skyscraper buildings.Once before decades ago in the 1990’s a fruit bat had stayed into our flat and i had caught and later released it.
See the video :- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRGDfqs5Ed8&feature=share
Hi Rudolph. Nice to hear from you again. I hope that you are well. Your story is interesting. And I like the way you tried to help this bat.
We have plenty of bats in the United states.
thanks, and glad I entertained you. wink
Eva
First I have to say this guy in video has a very foul mouth__too bad he didn’t edit.
Now on with the story.
My mama Calico -Robin- used to take her one kitten out to hunt when he-Sam-became old enough. Her rare one offspring was part orange tabby and part wild Florida bay cat.
They’d ask to go out once a day when the weather was clear, stroll side by side down our drive, stop at the fence and then jump over it. At this point both were on the edge of the road.
They’d look both ways many times and cross. After an hour or so Robin and Sam repeated this scenario in reverse. Anyway, on one occasion they returned with a bat. It seemed Robin had paralyzed it so it still moved but couldn’t fly off.
I didn’t freak out but was quite surprised to see a wiggling bat! thank goodness no one was bit.
Eva_
Agreed he’s foul mouthed. And I bit ignorant to be honest. I don’t think he realises he is foul mouthed 😉
I enjoyed your story. Bats are pretty rare in the UK. Perhaps you have more of them in the USA.
Monty’s first instinct upon catching prey is to bring it into the house. Any good cat guardian knows to look at the cat’s mouth before allowing admittance to the house. Also, I think cats should not be out at night because of predators such as owls or coyotes. Even though Monty has a secure enclosure he never goes out at night. He wants to. When the bats start to come out he gets brought in because they do carry rabies so I don’t want him catching one.