Another local man bitten by rabid bat

Add another local resident to the list of people bitten by rabid bats. This time, it's a north Harris County man who was bitten Friday while raking leaves in his yard in the Oakwood Village area.

KPRC reports the man was picking up leaves when the bat flew out of the leaf pile; he caught it and the bat bit him on the hand. Though he didn't see the bite occur, it broke the skin. The bat tested positive for rabies and the man will undergo six rabies shots over the next month. Meanwhile, city and county health and animal control officials are urging people in the area to keep their pets vaccinated for rabies and to avoid direct contact with any bat (which we'd have thought would be a matter of common sense by now).

With all the rabies news lately — a rabid bat found in Sugar Land and another in Katy, and bat colonies at Humble and Alvin high schools — you might think the bats are out to get us. But probably not: city public health spokeswoman Kathy Barton said the increase in bat reports could be the result of bats' fall migratory patterns or the loss of their natural roosting habitats. And Colleen Hodges with Harris County Health and Environmental Services said rabies comes in cycles: "Some years, you'll have just a few cases and then it will peak, and then it will go back down again. That's a normal process."

Still, stay away from those bats.