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November 23
1931 - Fall Roundup held at Hoot Gibson's Saugus Rodeo [story]
Hoot Gibson's 1931 Saugus Rodeo


What rhymes with “cat” and hisses like a cat when you approach it, but isn’t a cat?

You’ve got it. It’s a rabid bat.

Granted, most rabid bats don’t hiss at you; most stumble around like they’re drunk. But this one hissed.

hissingbat Los Angeles County’s fourteenth rabid bat of the season turned up this month in front of somebody’s garage in Newhall. According to county health officials, it hissed when it was approached.

It was the sixth rabid bat to be identified so far this year in the Santa Clarita Valley, and with six of the county’s 14 rabid bats (43 percent), the SCV continues to be the county leader in rabies – as it has been the last four years, when incidents of rabies infection started a dramatic climb.

Health officials can’t explain the uptick, but recent years have seen more than 40 infected bats annually across the county. There always used to be only 8 to 10 a year, at least since they started tracking such things in the early 1960s.

rabies072514Bats are the most common carriers of rabies, but most bats are disease-free. Fewer than 1 percent are infected.

Remember, if you see a bat flying around during the daytime, or bothering the family pet, or staggering around on the ground like a drunkard, or dead – don’t touch it.

In fact, what the heck. If a bat appears to be perfectly healthy, don’t touch it.

Instead call Animal Control at257-3191 and let them touch it. Let your tax dollars work for you.

Comment On This Story
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50 Comments

  1. Poor thing! Interesting ears!

  2. Leo Elias says:

    F n funny bat cat .

  3. Ashley Cornell, check this out.

  4. Lisa Dixon says:

    Hmmmm….Batty Patty

  5. Did someone photoshop the bat head on top of a cat body??? I am not buying this.

  6. Did someone photoshop the bat head on top of a cat body??? I am not buying this.

  7. That’s what my cat, Chauncey, looks like at feeding time

  8. That’s what my cat, Chauncey, looks like at feeding time

  9. Looks like a kitten with a bat head on it?

  10. Looks like a kitten with a bat head on it?

  11. Batty Patty says:

    I don’t think so.lol.

  12. Javier Garay says:

    Lorena Garay Gianella Garay

  13. The picture is a spoof but the story is real.

  14. Love the cat body on a couch with a scary as hell bat head.

  15. This page can be surprisingly funny at times.

  16. Ckay Walker says:

    A photoshopped image is not something “news” informers should be using. Just stupid. You know now that gullible people out there will be seriously confused.

  17. Ckay Walker says:

    A photoshopped image is not something “news” informers should be using. Just stupid. You know now that gullible people out there will be seriously confused.

  18. Bob Buechner says:

    Oh no….someone is hissed-off. Ha….

  19. Angela McColl Bodenhafer see its real!!!!! Haha those bats were crazy the other night, dive bombing us!!! They were rabid!!!!!!!! Our bats were not hissing though!!!

  20. Lisa Pierce says:

    I have noticed a lot more bats than usual in general in the SCV, SFV & AGOURA HILLS. Look up people stay clear.

  21. This is irresponsible journalism. For one thing, that’s not a bat indigenous to this area. For another it’s a bat head (badly) photoshopped onto a cat body. If I want the National Enquirer I’ll go to the grocery store.

  22. This is irresponsible journalism. For one thing, that’s not a bat indigenous to this area. For another it’s a bat head (badly) photoshopped onto a cat body. If I want the National Enquirer I’ll go to the grocery store.

  23. Terry LaRue says:

    Stupid sensationalism.

  24. Eddie Doty says:

    Gnarly little dude !

Leave a Comment


SCV NewsBreak
LOCAL NEWS HEADLINES
Friday, Nov 22, 2024
Hart Board Selects Current Interim Superintendent to Fill Vacancy
Following an extensive search, the Governing Board of the William S. Hart Union High School District has unanimously selected current Interim Superintendent Dr. Michael Vierra as the new Hart District Superintendent, filling the vacancy created when Mike Kuhlman resigned effective June 30.
Friday, Nov 22, 2024
Dec. 8: ‘Charles Phoenix Holidayland’ at Newhall Family Theatre
The nonprofit Raising the Curtain Foundation will host a fundraising event, "Holidayland" with mid-century pop culture expert Charles Phoenix, on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 3 p.m.
Friday, Nov 22, 2024
Nov. 26: City Council Meets to Discuss Contracts, Open Space Naming
The Santa Clarita City Council will hold its regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 26, beginning with a special closed meeting at 5 p.m., followed immediately with open session at 6 p.m.
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"Christmas Carol: The True Meaning of Christmas" will be performed on stage at the Canyon Theatre Guild on weekends beginning Friday, Nov. 29 thru Monday, Dec. 23 at 24242 Main St., Newhall, CA 91321.
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SCVNews.com