Usually, I just smirk when a bat is seen, because it's just over-reaction, but when they capture it, you can bet your boots the little guy will have rabies.
Generally, you never want to touch a bat that lets you get near enough to touch it, especially when not in a cave. The fact that you were able to pick it up or touch it is evidence that it is sick, probably in the later stages of rabies.
That's why bats have their reputation for carrying rabies: the ones you come in contact with almost always have it.
But among the bat population as a whole, any given bat is less likely to have rabies than a farm pig. We don't fear them when caving, and in fact we do our best to not wake them up when we come upon them.
The bat flight from inside the natural entrance
of Carlsbad Caverns (photo by wm)
Yes, I've been in bat flights, and I've had them land on me when the bats were too thick for them to avoid flying into me. They always just climb up to my shoulder and take off again. I'm not the least bit nervous in such situations, but there is no way I would get near one lying on the ground.
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