SNOWMASS VILLAGE — Thousand of bats have been colonizing in Snowmass Village over the years, with a recent incident at a townhome complex capturing the attention of local and state health officials.
One morning in August, Nick DiMeglio and his wife, who live at Snowmass Villas woke up and noticed a bat in their room.
DiMeglio and his wife underwent post-prophylaxis for rabies because they had been exposed to the flying mammal. They weren’t bitten, but the incident cast the spotlight on a bat issue that isn’t restricted to just Snowmass Villas but much of Snowmass Village.
A week before the couple spotted the bat in their home, Pitkin County positively tested its first bat for rabies in more than 20 years, officials said. Rabies is a fatal viral disease that is mostly transmitted through animal bites, but it also can be picked up if an animal’s saliva goes into a person’s eyes, nose, mouth or a wound, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC also notes that rabies among bats is rare, and one can’t tell if a bat has the disease simply by looking at it.
But if a bat is active during the day or seen in places it generally doesn’t inhabit — in other words, behaving out of character — it could be rabid.
Health officials, including the state public health veterinarian, spoke to homeowners at a meeting in August, Stark said. “We don’t want to eliminate them (bats) completely,” Stark said. “We just don’t want them going into homes.”
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