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Thread: Bat Protection?

  1. #1
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    Bat Protection?

    I'm headed to West Africa over the summer, and I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about bats biting through hammock fabric. The travel doc I talked to had no idea, but told me that I should get the rabies shots if I wake up in a room with a bat, since the bites can be painless and unnoticeable. I won't be sleeping in a room though, just an open-walled shelter with a roof. I assume any rabid bat would just fly off after its night-time snack. It's monsoon season so I won't be using a pad and will probably have bare skin up against the hammock (sprayed with permethrin so the mosquitoes don't get me).

    Considering that rabies is 100% lethal if you don't get treatment quickly, I'm kind of worried.

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    I am pretty sure that Africa doesn't habour bats that feast on human beings, those would be vampire bats and they only live in South America. However in event that such a species of bat exist, i am sure a mosquito net would work.

  3. #3
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    It is my understanding smokey fires keep pests away.

    Why not use a closed cell pad for the extra bite protection?

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    Senior Member 2 Samuel 22's Avatar
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    Close friends of ours are Christian missionaries in West Africa, the Ivory Coast, Abidjan area. I would say the risk of contracting Malaria or Dengue Fever is much higher than rabies. They have been infected multiple times over the years. Stay out of the Ebola areas and thoroughly treat your hammock, bugnet and all clothing with Permethrin and bring a good bug spray. Also bring a Sawyer Squeeze and depending on the water source consider boiling your water too.

    I recently asked them about hammocks in West Africa, they said hammocks are rare where they are but in some places they are viable options. If I were hammocking in an open walled shelter there I would consider bringing additional netting to help keep critters outside. And keep your shoes off the ground at night, hang them from your ridgeline inside your bugnet.

    We are in fairly regular contact with them so let me know if you have other questions.
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  5. #5
    Senior Member Rain Man's Avatar
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    "Bats!" is the cry of cheap Hollywood movies. Worse actually than "snakes!" and "bears!" Don't be an actual victim of fear-mongering.

    Mosquitoes? That's a different story.
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    I am looking at hammock camping on some deserted islands in the Philippines and I think an under quilt will be adequate protection from the underside. A net over cover will be enough for the top but get injections for everything you can expect to come across. Dengue and malaria are a serious risk in many tropical regions. If concerned get a Fronkey style bug net. That will put some space between your back and the bats.


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    Rabies sickens and eventually kills bats, so the likelihood of a rabid bat swooping out of the sky and biting you is very, very, very low. That bat is curled up somewhere trying to let the disease run it's course (which, unfortunately, will result in its death). Most people who contract rabies from bats were trying to "help" a bat that they found, not knowing that the reason it didn't flee was because it was too sick to do so.

  8. #8
    Senior Member jcksparow's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rain Man View Post
    "Bats!" is the cry of cheap Hollywood movies.
    1pitk3.jpg
    "Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates." -Mark Twain

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    Thanks for the advice, friends. I'll definitely go heavy on the insect repellent and light on the movies.

  10. #10
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    I wouldn't give it a second thought. They only attack when you are asleep anyway.

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