http://www.sltrib.com/lifestyle/faith/2686577-156/bats-at-provos-mtc-prompt-lds

What a story!

...it could be;

"LDS Church to relocate 600 batty female Mormon missionaries."

Satan must have let them in.
Through the water pipes, no doubt (where he has dominion).
Oh, the evil that searches out mishies...

:)

Gives a whole new take on the term "Bat Shit Crazy."

Another proof this is the lards work

What's wrong with bats? I have several bat houses. Bats are excellent bug zappers. I do what I can to foster their residence.

I read the link, I saw a lot of hypocritical crap, but saw no nothing about the girls being bitten, or scratched by a bat. Did I miss something? Other than that I saw they evacuated an entire building and proceeded to poison the entire building for possible rodents. Good lord! Talk about hysterical overreaction. All that AND two girls when through the anti rabies protocol because they SAW a bat?

This story is so absurd! The fact is all this ridiculous hoopla is just MTC "we really care and protect your precious children" is no more than bullshit theater for the benefit of parents who might just yank their frightened daughters home.

The irony is that after all the feigned care and concern, the Mormon "church" then promptly proceeds to ship these same young men and women of to endure two years of some of the most appalling living conditions on the face of the earth while forbidding the young people access to their parents who WOULD intervene for their kids of they truly understood how cruelly the missionaries are being mistreated and downright abused ....AT THE EXPENSE OF THESE VERY SAME PARENTS.

But, as for the poor little misunderstood bats, I have to agree with Void K.Packard. When living on a ranch we would gently encourage the foreign workers to please not kill the bats as they slept in the cracks of the barn during the day by explaining how valuable they were by how hard they worked at night to feed themselves and their adorable little squeakers by catching thousands of mosquitos and other misery causing nocturnal insects. The workers thought we were crazy at first, but we reassured them no one had ever been bitten by a bat here in spite of the fact the bats slept within feet of where we worked during the day, added to the fact their droppings make amazing plant fertilizer. (The bats, not the workers.)

Sadly, the small creatures suffer greatly from our culture of ignorance and fear. But in this case, at least,
Bats...won
Mosquitos...lose

Would the Mormon church have evacuated and fumigated an entire building in addition to administering the rabies protocol if the young ladies had seen....say, ...a mouse?

Well, maybe this is the beginning of a while new era of concern for the missionaries abroad where a missionary will be immediately evacuated from a substandard building where a bat or mouse has been spotted. Can you imagine?

I can't.

Bats are more dangerous than most people think, at least in countries with rabies, such as the US.

Here's a link from the Centers for Disease Control discussing the link between bats and human rabies cases.

http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/education/

Because untreated rabies is fatal, it's important to take precautions. I think the church did the right thing here.

I read your link and still feel the hysteria may be overblown. Of the over 300,000,000+ people in the United States only 17 people contacted rabies during the previous NINE YEARS. Compare those 17 people with the 70,000 or so people in this country who fall victim to and die from the flu each year.

Of course those figures do not negate the need to exercise caution when in the presence of bats. The link you posted stated that except for the two sleeping children, most of those infected had actually handled the creatures while evicting them from the premises. Bats would occasionally find their way into our country home, but we never tried to get closer to them than the length of our friendly broom.

My biggest beef with this whole story is the level of caution and concern displayed for the missionaries while they still have access to their parents as compared to the level of care and caution provided door them after they are categorically denied access to parental intervention. Theater and bullshit.

I agree, the hysteria is still overblown, since other animals such as squirrels, racoons, etc tend to carry rabies more often than bats do. Where my mom lives, in the summer you can be in her pool and watch the bats fly around at dusk, and they don't come near people at all. Also, I go camping in the fall, and there are bats that sleep in the restrooms during the day, and eat tons of mosquitos as this is by a lake. They don't bother anyone using the facilities, and my fiancee uses the pseudonym "going to see the bats" when he goes to use the bathroom.

It's also important to know that rats are not vermin, as are mice and rats. Bats have an integral part in the ecosystem of the entire world.

I suspect you mean't to say Bats are not vermin

Thanks. This is exactly what I meant to say. But sometimes my phone gets the best of me.

same here

This just in! Bat child found in cave!

Bat girls sent to save the world.

It's just one of Krieger's experiments.

And it's not half bat, it's half ostrich!

I don't think the Bat Boy has been sighted since Romney's failed attempt at the Oval Office.

http://littleitalypasta.com/test/wordpress-content/uploads/2013/04/batboy_vp1.jpg

The bottom line is that LD$ Inc really does not give a damn about missionaries, but LD$ Inc has to make it APPEAR AS IF THEY CARE.

Anything to get in the news one more time: more buildings are going up at the MTC, the age was lowered for missionaries, and there are more than 85,000 plus young irritating charity workers out there now.
Feel goody news for those still under the influence in Moroni land.

I believe this is a much bigger deal than they’re letting on. I can’t imagine a scenario where the managing director of the Missionary Department would move 600 girls out of a building over one small bat. The scrutiny by the Apostles is too great. I can’t see why he would risk the publicity and embarrassment to the Church. And why would they call in a pest control company and send the girls through treatment if it were one small bat?

I was bitten by a baby pet leopard on my mission and was given a small shot for the two days while the animal was sent for rabies testing. When it came back negative they stopped the shots. From that experience I understand that they only give you the full regiment if they cannot find the animal, or they have the animal and it tested positive. Which is it? Did they catch the animal and it tested positive, or was there a large infestation making it impossible to know?

According to the CDC the cost of rabies shots can cost well over $1,000. Treating 600 girls would be an enormous expense. Cheaper to move them out and pray that no one was bitten.

A relative of mine has a daughter that was in that group and when they called they were directed to the Public Relations arm of the Church. Seems they are more concerned about the press and covering their fannys in case something goes south. I can see it now…“Sorry for the loss of your daughter. We took every precaution…”

I'm guessing they were in the belfry.

According to Associated Press the bat was in her bunk.

I am assuming that the church has tweaked the original reported occurrence so that parents don't panic.

If the bat was in the bed with her, it would definitely increase the chance of a bite.

http://news-round.com/bats-force-mormon-church-to-relocate-missionaries-in-provo/

Villager Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> According to Associated Press the bat was in her
> bunk.

Oh, sure.
She was pleasing herself. A hall monitor came by and saw the covers moving. Busted, and afraid to admit to what she was really doing, she stammers..."...b-b-b-bats!"

At least, that's my version :)

If they would of been wearing their "Armor of God" PJs they wouldn't of had anything to worry about.
http://sandwalk.blogspot.com/2008/10/armor-of-god-pajamas.html

Now how come gowd didn't direct those bats elsewhere?

That would have been so easy and would have saved so much effort that those misshies to be could continu to concentrate on their sacred tasks...

Female Masturbation maybe?

Nothing faces a more uncertain future in the states than our bat populations. If the bats go, so goes the environment. It's bad enough that we have people running afraid of helpful little bats, a kind of ignorant hysteria one learns from watching old black and white horror films. But to have the "inspired" leaders from LDS, Inc. exterminate them is really giving in to stupidity. Don't want bats in your house? Block their access. This is just proof that there are weak links in the MTC building maintenance program.

A bat fact:
Bats will not attack you even when chased. They will attempt to bite during the first few minutes of being handled. Little brown bats, by far the most common "house bat" in the United States, if not the world, have never been proven to transmit any disease to humans and are generally not powerful enough to break human skin. As with any wild animal, you should refrain from directly handling the bat and use gloves for your own protection if necessary.

In late summer and fall bats seek alternate roosts by investigating cave, houses, and just about anything that has an "entrance". Make sure all obvious entrances are closed or have screens.

LDS owns the property; imagine if they did nothing to address the bats.

I grew up in a house maybe 500 ft. from a brick church bell tower. Bats were commonplace. They were small, gentle creatures, and the only attraction to a human were the mosquitos we attracted.

They would occasionally land on trees, within reach. They wouldn't startle if touched, so I could "pet" them, softer than rabbits. I was taught that they were good things to have around, lucky if you did.

I'm much more concerned what a mosquito might transmit, which is designed to feed on me, rather than to avoid me.

Gotham,Utah

You misspelled "goddamn."

Just trying to be helpful. You're welcome.

Actually, I love Utah