Man treated for rabies after scratch from bat

PORT ANGELES - A 59-year-old man is recovering after being scratched by a rabies-infected bat last month at Lake Crescent. The man was sitting on the shore when a bat flew out of a nearby tree and landed on him, the Peninsula Daily News reported.

The Port Angeles man knocked the bat to the ground, but received a scratch from the bat in the process, the paper reported. The man reportedly used a towel to capture the bat and alerted park staff, parks spokeswoman Rainey McKenna told the papert.

Tests by the Clallam County Health Department confirmed that the bat had the rabies virus. The man is being treated with a rabies post-exposure
prophylaxis and does not have rabies, McKenna said.

"Rabies exposure is extremely rare, but fatal if untreated," park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum said in a news release. "Anyone observing unusual or aggressive behavior among park wildlife, including bats or other mammals....should inform a park ranger as soon as possible."