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Gaslight Theater Co. to present Shakespeare in Wilkes-Barre, Pittston

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Crestwood responds with thorough win over Wyoming Valley West

<p>LARKSVILLE &#8212; Randy Haines was reading in his recliner on the night of Aug. 27 when he heard his dog barking from the fenced-in back yard of his East Main Street home.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re very close. I know all his barks,&#8221; Haines said of the Jack Russell terrier named Rocco. &#8220;He knew something was wrong and alerted me.&#8221;</p><p>Haines stepped out onto the back porch to see Rocco struggling with a large flailing bat.</p><p>&#8220;It was trying to bite the dog,&#8221; Haines recalled.</p><p>He rushed to protect Rocco, attempting to shoo the winged intruder away with his foot.</p><p>&#8220;The bat hit me quicker than a rattlesnake, wrapped around my leg, bit me multiple times in a matter of seconds,&#8221; said Haines, 60.</p><p>Scars on his left calf and right hand still bear testament to last week&#8217;s battle, but they&#8217;re not the only reminder.</p><p>Lab tests revealed the hoary bat was rabid, and Haines is receiving shots as a result.</p><p>&#8220;I called the Game Commission immediately. They came out to get the bat, sent it to the lab in Harrisburg, and the lab called me the next day and said it tested positive for rabies,&#8221; Haines said.</p><p>&#8220;Now I&#8217;m on my third regimen of shots. I got one more to go.&#8221;</p><p>Rocco, fortunately, was current on his rabies shots, Haines said.</p><p>What happened to Haines was somewhat unusual.</p><p>&#8220;This is the first time I&#8217;ve ever heard of anyone being bitten by a hoary bat,&#8221; said William M. Williams, a supervisor with the Game Commission&#8217;s Northeast Region office in Dallas.</p><p><a href="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/bats1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hoary bats are not common in </a><a href="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/bats1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pennsylvania</a>, but they do pass through the state when migrating between South America and Canada.</p><p>Williams described them as tree bats, explaining that they tend to roost in trees high above the ground, and that they do not commonly interact with humans.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not going to swoop down and target someone,&#8221; he said.</p><p>However, as guidelines from the Agriculture Department note, rabies can cause infected animals to behave erratically, sometimes aggressively.</p><p>That said, Williams added that it&#8217;s still rare for bats to bite unless cornered or grabbed &#8212; which is what happened with Haines.</p><p>&#8220;I grabbed the bat, squished it in my hand as hard as I could and slammed it off the concrete,&#8221; Haines said.</p><p>&#8220;That only stunned the bat. The bat was still moving. So I went in the house, grabbed my razor knife and I slit the bat&#8217;s throat,&#8221; he added.</p><p>Waiting for the Game Commission to arrive, Haines took a photo of the bat splayed out next to an antique folding ruler passed down through the family from his grandfather, a coal miner in Nanticoke.</p><p>&#8220;It had a 16-inch wingspan,&#8221; Haines said, adding that the bat quickly began to shrivel up. &#8220;The body was the size of a small red squirrel. Its teeth were very long, and his nose pointed upwards.&#8221;</p><p>Haines, who said he spent much of his life on farms, never encountered anything larger than the more common brown and black bats, which are much smaller and often enter homes and barns.</p><p>&#8220;He looked like something out of a horror story,&#8221; Haines said of the hoary bat.</p><p>The real horror story was yet to unfold.</p><p>Rabies is nearly 100% fatal without post-exposure treatment, so Haines knew he had to act fast.</p><p>&#8220;As soon as the lab called me in the morning I jetted right to the emergency room. I wasn&#8217;t wasting no time,&#8221; he said.</p><p>&#8220;The shots? Oh my God, I wouldn&#8217;t wish these shots on anybody in the world. They hurt so bad, and the needles are so big, but thank God they&#8217;re saving my life,&#8221; Haines said.</p><p>The good news for him &#8212; and for anyone reading this &#8212; is that the last diagnosed human case of rabies in Pennsylvania was in 1984, state records show.</p><p>The risk is very real, however.</p><p>Since 2000, between 350 and 500 animals in Pennsylvania are annually confirmed to have rabies, state Agriculture Department statistics show.</p><p>There were 233 animal rabies cases reported statewide through July, and raccoons made up the largest number, with 126. That was followed by 31 cats, 24 bats, 22 foxes, 14 skunks, eight groundhogs and a handful of other animals.</p><p>Through July, Luzerne County had only reported two rabies cases, both cats, the agency said.</p><p>A department spokeswoman confirmed that the agency received the Larksville bat for testing, and that it tested positive for rabies.</p><p>If you discover a bat in your home, the department advises closing the door to the room where it&#8217;s located or, if possible, placing a box or large container over the bat to contain it. Then contact your local game commission office for assistance.</p><p>Haines just hopes no one else has an encounter like his, and to be aware the big bats are around.</p><p>&#8220;I just want people to know there&#8217;s creatures out there like this, and they&#8217;re not little,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a rare bat for this area, but they&#8217;re traveling through.&#8221;</p><p><strong>* * *</strong></p><p><strong>TO LEARN MORE</strong></p><p><strong>&#8226;</strong> Rabies information from pa.gov:<strong> <a href="https://www.pa.gov/guides/foodborne-animal-transmitted-illnesses/#Rabies">https://www.pa.gov/guides/foodborne-animal-transmitted-illnesses/#Rabies</a></strong></p><p><strong>&#8226; </strong>Pa. Agriculture Department rabies map:<strong> <a href="https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Animals/AHDServices/diseases/Pages/Rabies.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Animals/AHDServices/diseases/Pages/Rabies.aspx</a></strong></p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_69571286_2240196869436780_7967181681452908544_n-6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">This is a photo Randy Haines took of the hoary bat which bit him in his Larksville yard on Aug. 27. He said that before it began to shrivel, he measured the wingspan at 16 inches. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_69571286_2240196869436780_7967181681452908544_n-6.jpg</photo0><caption0>This is a photo Randy Haines took of the hoary bat which bit him in his Larksville yard on Aug. 27. He said that before it began to shrivel, he measured the wingspan at 16 inches. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL090719Bat2-6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Randy Haines of Larksville looks at bites he received from a bat last week. &#8216;I called the Game Commission immediately. They came out to get the bat, sent it to the lab in Harrisburg, and the lab called me the next day and said it tested positive for rabies,&#8217; Haines said. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL090719Bat2-6.jpg</photo1><caption1>Randy Haines of Larksville looks at bites he received from a bat last week. &#8216;I called the Game Commission immediately. They came out to get the bat, sent it to the lab in Harrisburg, and the lab called me the next day and said it tested positive for rabies,&#8217; Haines said. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL090719Bat1-6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Randy Haines looks at a bite he received from a rabid bat in his Larksville yard last week. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL090719Bat1-6.jpg</photo2><caption2>Randy Haines looks at a bite he received from a rabid bat in his Larksville yard last week. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Roger DuPuis</p><p>rdupuis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Rabies scare: Larksville man receiving shots after rabid bat bites him