Attacked on the Cedar!!!

[herl]

Imagine this episode as one of those comic strip-type "it happened to me" adventure tales they (used to?) run in Outdoor Life... ..I can picture the dramatic drawings..

[Gatorator]

I caught a Pelican once in Australia. They are quite a bit bigger in your boat than they look to be when they are on the water.

[Mark Moore]

Had one attack me while I was building my house about 10 years ago. It scared the living crap out of me, I just started clapping and turning in circles so I could keep it in my sight. By the time it was over I couldn't figure out whether to fall down or puke.

On a side note, Boot, could they test the vest for the virus and maybe avoid the treatment?

[LeoCreek]

That is too funny! I've had some bat rises, I mean dips, to my presentation, but guess I just don't have the skill level to actually hook up.

A buddy and I were fishing on East Lake in Oregon years ago, and there were about a half dozen mallard ducks that followed us around the lake for about an hour. Kind of a nuisance, as they interfered with our fly fishing near the edges of some weed beds. But they finally left us alone...or so we thought.

We hadn't seen them for about 10 minutes, and my friend lays out a cast with a nymph by the weed bed, and just as it hits the water a mallard comes from our blind side "like a bat out of hell" and pounces on the nymph. My buddy tries to agressively get his nymph out of there when the duck pounces...and you guessed it....all he did was set the hook, really well as it turns out. This duck went airborne so fast it was really impressive. There was about 70 yards of backing on the old Pfleuger, and the mallard made one fast, strong run that would put a bonefish to shame. It happened so fast, that all the backing was nearly gone by the time he pointed the rod at the duck and pinched off the line to break him off.

After we got over the initial shock and laughing, we felt bad for the duck, but hope that the hook corroded out quickly enough to not cause him any permanent damage.

Anyway, I think he might have been rabid. But seriously, I hope you get a clean bill of health!

Tom

[Tim Allen]

Glad some folks got a laugh about my life and death struggle with what was certainly Diphylla ecauddata or a hairy-legged vampire bat (yeah, I had so much time to check his hairy legs, sure thing). NOW IT”S TIME TO STOP LAUGHING! The first rabies post from wadin’ boot made me think, hmmm, hadn’t thought about rabies, then a post from johhnyrockfish, then HauntedByWaters then I thought, hmmmmm, the only cure for getting rabies is most certain death, hmmmmm

Now the not-so-funny-news. As I posted earlier I went to our on-site med center. After they all stopped laughing they took me in and called King County Public Health. We got on speaker phone and KCPH asked me a bunch of questions. I couldn’t exactly say I hadn’t had skin contact for sure since I was kind of freaking out at the time, so they recommended I get immunized. No biggie. But I had to go to ER at Overlake in Bellvue. OK. The county called ahead so the police were waiting…no, no, that was a different time. They took me in and told me I needed one shot today, one this Saturday, one the Saturday after that, then two more in July. No fear. After the first shot, they then told me I needed a series of shots right away too for immediate protection. Based on my (excessive) body weight of 220 pounds, that calculated into 7 more shots So, a nice afternoon after 8 shots, not the good kind of shots either

The moral of the story is DON”T CATCH BATS!!! That’s impossible though, they’re out at the best time we fish, early to late evening. My only advice, besides keeping those loops nice and tight, would be that if you are unfortunate enough to pin one of these guys, leave them in the water downstream and break them off as far away as possible. Barbless on the Cedar of course, I hope he gets it out. If I hadn’t gotten tangled, I might have followed my advice. No, actually I wouldn’t, I’d have reeled him in and thought this was really funny and then trolled him around for awhile and still ended up like I did. Now, you’re smarter than Tim! Don't play with the bats, not worth the real pain in the ass it’s been so far. Tight Lines, Tim the Toolman

[Ed Call]

Glad you got the shots. 220 and you got bonus shots...nice to know. My fat 225 pound ass is going on a diet for sure now.

[dryflylarry]

Call your physician, get lined up for a Rabies shot. You don't need to be bit by a bat to get rabies, the virus can be aerosilized in feces and other stuff. It may seem like overkill, but bat-borne rabies is seen in Washington State. To date there is one patient, worldwide, that survived rabies without a post-exposure vaccination. The rest have died. If it were me I'd be getting the shots, nothing to screw around with there.

[Tyler Watters]

In some countries they call that a kite!

[Zeb Stadler]

oh man that was great. i too have had them divebomb my dries at dusk...but never have i had the lightning fast reflexes to capitalize on their attempts. epic story my friend.

[Jacob Mitchell]

Now the not-so-funny-news. As I posted earlier I went to our on-site med center. After they all stopped laughing they took me in and called King County Public Health. We got on speaker phone and KCPH asked me a bunch of questions. I couldn’t exactly say I hadn’t had skin contact for sure since I was kind of freaking out at the time, so they recommended I get immunized. No biggie. But I had to go to ER at Overlake in Bellvue. OK. The county called ahead so the police were waiting…no, no, that was a different time. They took me in and told me I needed one shot today, one this Saturday, one the Saturday after that, then two more in July. No fear. After the first shot, they then told me I needed a series of shots right away too for immediate protection. Based on my (excessive) body weight of 220 pounds, that calculated into 7 more shots So, a nice afternoon after 8 shots, not the good kind of shots either

I heard that you have to be given the rabies shots in the stomach....is this true??

[wadin' boot]

Tim- here's to you you deserve a collective toast for suffering the injections and following through with what is no doubt a collosal pain in the ass.

Why not write it all up in a fly fishing magazine friendly way with a title like

"What to do when you hook a bat...or how to avoid rabies"

Juice the story, come up with some guidelines on handling, vaccination etc and then shop it around the magazines a little. Chances are if you've ever fished dries at dusk in summer you'll come across this situation ( ie everyone) so there's a market for it. If I was an editor I'd want to publish it and pay you some money for your troubles...pm me if you want some help. Les Johnson might be another guy to PM for style issues etc.

On a side note, Boot, could they test the vest for the virus and maybe avoid the treatment?

There is a rabies polymerase chain reaction test (PCR) and a neck biopsy looking for virus (negri bodies on microscopy) but by the time you get results (probably around ten days or more) you will have bypassed any chance of getting a benefit from the vaccination. every time I've ordered it on folks with unexplained coma, it takes around 2 weeks and a lot of phone calls to track it down.

Oh and Jeremy Floyd, the incubation period is up to 2 years....so those 11 bats in the guide tent you wrapped in your t-shirt last fall...brings me to the question I've been meaning to ask....what kind of gear do you have?

(just kidding Jeremy...if nothing's happened by 3-6 months I wouldn't lose any sleep over it)

[Upton O]

Tim,
I'm glad you didn't blow off the medical advice. And thanks for sharing the adventure. Next time try using a "mouse" fly and see what the bat's reaction might be. Maybe you could tape some plastic little wings to the fly and just whirl it around your head...

[Schemy]

I've had bats dive bomb my fly while I was practicing out in a field near my house. But to actually hook up, well that would be a rodeo I would want no part of.

[johnnyrockfish]

Now that you're vaccinated you should try for a few more. Perhaps throw a baitfish pattern for a larger one!

Sorry to hear about the shots but glad you're safe. My kid got scratched/bit by a stray cat a few years ago when he was 2 and we really struggled about getting him vaccinated. Finally the doctors talked us out of it because there hadn't been a case of cat rabies in 40 years or so in Kitsap.

Cheers,
JR

[Jeremy Floyd]

Boot, I have all Abel Reels (7 of em), and for rods a mix of Sage (4,6,8,8,10wt), Loomis (7,8,8, 7134kispiox), Echo (7124), and soon a couple Burkies (8134 and a 7133).

Should I fall in the line of duty, you can have my gear after immortalizing me with a humoruos rabid eulogy.