FloMoTX.com

The Town’s Animal Services division has confirmed that a live bat found at a playground of Garden Ridge Elementary, 2200 Garden Ridge Drive, tested positive for rabies.

The bat was reported to Animal Services by school staff on Sept. 28 after it was noticed by school children on a tree. The bat appeared unhealthy and was exhibiting a non-characteristic trait by being active during daylight hours.

The school officials said that no students reported making direct contact with the bat. Flower Mound Animal Services retrieved the bat and sent it to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) laboratory for rabies testing. Animal Services was notified on Sept. 30 the bat had tested positive for rabies.

Residents are advised to not approach wild animals, especially those exhibiting erratic or unusual behavior. Direct contact with a wild animal by a human or pet should be reported immediately to Animal Services or the Police Department at 972.539.0525 if after business hours. For additional information, call Animal Services between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 972.874.6390.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says there are more than 20 species of bats in Texas. They include:

• Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus)
• Big Free-tailed Bat (Nyctinomops macrotis)
• Brazilian Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis)
• Evening Bat (Nycticeius humeralis)
• Ghost-faced Bat (Mormoops megalophylla)
• Hairy-legged Vampire Bat (Diphylla ecaudata)
• Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus)
• Mexican Long-nosed Bat (Leptonycteris nivalis)
• Mexican Long-tongued Bat (Choeronycteris mexicana)
• Northern Yellow Bat (Lasiurus intermedius)
• Pallid Bat (Antrozous pallidus)
• Pocketed Free-tailed Bat (Nyctinomops femorosacca)
• Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii)
• Seminole Bat (Lasiurus seminolus)
• Silver-haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans)
• Southern Yellow Bat (Lasiurus ega)
• Spotted Bat (Euderma maculatum)
• Townsend’s Big-eared Bat (Plecotus townsendii)
• Western Mastiff Bat (Eumops perotis)
• Western Mastiff Bat (Eumops perotis)
• Western Yellow Bat (Lasiurus xanthinus)

Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

DallasNews.com is reporting that three dead bats were found by a Flower Mound resident Monday on Prospect Drive. The Texas Department of health will investigate, but there has been a growing mystery concerning mysterious bat deaths in other parts of the U.S. The Fish & Wildlife Service has found ”sick, dying and dead bats in unprecedented numbers” in and around caves and mines from Vermont to Virginia.

On the East Coast, hibernating bats have been found with an unusual white dust on their noses, ears and wings. The find was named White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) and in less than 12 months WNS had traveled 450 miles from a cave in New York. The epidemic has now spread to more than 65 caves in nine New England and Mid-Atlantic states and several caves in Canada are suspected of harboring the fungus.

We’ll see whether the health department thinks these bat deaths are related.

Update: The Flower Mound Leader reports that rabies tests on the bats were negative.

Related stories:

• The bats of Texas
• Despite scary Halloween image, bats are environmental helpers (KTRK-TV, Houston)