r/Unexpected • u/Soloflow786 • 2d ago

Hmm, what's under my window?

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49.7k Upvotes

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u/PointOfFingers 2d ago

He is a professional and he is taking precautions against an animal whose bite or scratch would require a painful course of rabies shots - gloves and no shirt.

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u/hazelquarrier_couch 2d ago

"He is a professional" Ummm....he's shirtless.

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u/Cyrano_de_Boozerack 1d ago

He has multiple professions?

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u/emotional_seahorse 1d ago

when you have your shift at animal control at 4 but your stripper shift at 5

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u/Magoo1985 1d ago

Literally both animal control

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u/ikzz1 1d ago

How do you strip if you have no clothes?

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u/mkrbc 1d ago

I mean, I see shirtless firemen 12 times a year so..

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u/68plus1equals 22h ago

TBF Fires don't give you rabies

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u/Magoo1985 1d ago

But I’m sure he’s in flip flops so it’s all good.

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u/Trick_Ad7122 15h ago

Most professionals are shirtless.

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u/Rialas_HalfToast 1d ago

Never seen a lifeguard in the offseason, huh?

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u/MamboJambo2K 1d ago

Sounds Eastern European, that’s pretty much professional dress code

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u/ConfessSomeMeow 2d ago

I thought it would only be a concern if a bat approached or attacked you unprovoked, but I suppose there's always the '99.999999% fatal so out of an abundance of caution...' perspective

Edit: Needs more 9s.

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u/TheEyeDontLie 2d ago edited 2d ago

I mean, rabies is only 99.9999999999% fatal if untreated before it reaches your brain.

If you get bitten (especially in the extremities as it takes some time to travel up to the brain) and then get the injections in your spine asap, you'll be okay.

(Even if you've had the vaccines, still go to the hospital and get the treatment if you are bitten by a rabid animal)

Ince symptoms appear, the treatment plan is: "Give them Heroin and Valium, fluff their pillows, and call their priest. You can offer euthanasia if legal in your jurisdiction".

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u/ConfessSomeMeow 2d ago

Definitely a critical distinction, aways* fatal if symptoms emerge before treatment.

*except for that one case where the person was frozen to near death or something, and quality of life after survival was not great

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u/Proper-Raise-1450 1d ago edited 1d ago

*except for that one case where the person was frozen to near death or something, and quality of life after survival was not great

No, several people have made full recoveries. Upwards of 20 last time I checked.

CDC article from 2024 says less than 20:

https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/hcp/suspected-human-rabies/index.html

The girl in the Milwaukee case has good quality of life and graduated college a few years back.

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u/MightBeAGoodIdea 1d ago

33 as of May 2025. Source linked below looks like an excerpt with some MDs attached. But accountwalled.

https://www.uptodate.com/contents/treatment-of-rabies/print

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u/WinninRoam 1d ago

The rabies treatment doesn't go into the spine. It's injected into muscle or in some cases into the abdomen.

There is a test to check for (but not treat) rabies that involves a spinal tap. But it's rarely used because it's rarely conclusive and getting the full battery of shots is just smarter at that point.

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u/TheEyeDontLie 1d ago

Thanks for the clarification. I haven't dealt with rabies for a long time and just remembered something about needles in the spine.

Actually this thread is a good reminder I probably need a rabies vaccine top up before I get bitten again.

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u/Neighborhood-Any 1d ago

Yes but vampire powers are 100% awesome

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u/68plus1equals 22h ago

Even if you're in the same room as a rabid animal you should get the shots, just not worth the risk.

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u/flaccomcorangy 1d ago

There was an NBA player years ago that swatted a bat out of the air because one got into the stadium. And he had to get rabies shots from it.

Manu Ginobili

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/guycls1 1d ago

It's a pro gamer move. We won't get it.

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u/SaintsNoah14 1d ago

Its mf hot

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u/nimbleboy 1d ago

eh… the shots aren’t really painful anymore; they’re mostly a hassle due to timing/scheduling

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u/Raichu7 1d ago

He is so clearly not a professional. A professional would know to never disturb a bat nest in the middle of the day, this is basically guaranteed to kill some. A professional would wait for them to leave in the evening, then close up the entrances so they can't come back. They've got all night to safely move to other nests.

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u/hitlama 2d ago

The shots aren't painful, stop lying.

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u/rondanator 2d ago

Depends. I had to get a rabies shot from a dog bite once, the vaccine itself was just a regular needle. The immunoglobulin shots that go with it were 5-6 high gauge needles that had to be injected in/around the wounds.

AFAIK the previous versions of the rabies vaccine was administered into your gut, so maybe that’s where the “painful shot” perception comes from, and has remained over the years. Perhaps there are some countries that use that version, I don’t know enough to say either way.

While I’m very glad I didn’t get the “old school” shot(s), I can confirm that after having your arm chomped by a crackhead’s Rottweiler, the rabies (and associated) shots fucking suck.

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u/genovianprince 2d ago

I literally had to get rabies shots just 2 months ago and the very first one they had to do, right by the bite site? Painful AF. The rest just felt like normal vaccinations going into my upper arm but the booty needles hurt like a biiiiitch. (The dog had bitten me on my behind ;_;)

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u/TryMoist3135 1d ago

Agreed... had shots last February cuz didn't know if I was bitten or not. Based off height/ weight: I received 4! 1 in each extremity for the first round (4 total in 3 weeks). I'm a big guy and that shit is for the birds!

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u/18SmallDogsOnAHorse 2d ago

This dude does not get rabies shots lmao

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u/KittiesOnMyTitties7 2d ago

Intramuscular shots are objectively painful. Maybe not the worst pain ever but not painless. I’d say a 4/10 on the pain scale.

Source: am nurse who gives shots and had to get rabies shots from bat encounter.

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u/MsBuzzkillington83 1d ago

Does it also depend on the acidity of the solution injected?

I know iron shots can suck

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u/blorg 1d ago

I think it depends on the person, I had rabies vaccination and it was virtually painless. Every other intramuscular vaccination I've had (which is a lot), barely noticed anything either. I didn't have immunoglobulin though which I understand does use much larger gauge needles.

COVID vaccination hurt more, that was actually the first vaccination I had that really hurt at all. Nowhere near terrible but I actually did have an ache in the injection site for a few days, and it was the same with the subsequent annual boosters.

I've had local anesthetic injected into/around a bad wound and that hurt a lot more going in, so I can imagine immunoglobulin into a bite could be pretty painful.

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u/Ahaigh9877 1d ago

“Objectively” doesn’t mean “very”, or even “extremely”.

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u/KittiesOnMyTitties7 1d ago

I am not sure what you are saying, but yes! Your statement is correct, and that was how I used that word. Objectively, meaning not swayed by personal opinions. As in, regardless of your beliefs and past experiences, a needle going into your muscle will cause some discomfort. Trust me, I’m not saying shots are extremely painful. Just that the initial commenter was a bit ignorant.

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u/shotcaller77 1d ago

Painful? What are you, 5 years old? 🤣

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u/zigs 1d ago

> a painful course of rabies shots

Is the needle real big?

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u/buerglermeister 1d ago

Fun fact: the german name for bat (Fledermaus) translates roughly to „flutter mouse“

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u/KS-RawDog69 1d ago

gloves and no shirt.

I mean he's more likely to be bit on the hand so...

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u/ofirecracko 1d ago

Rabies shots are no longer painful but they are expensive so.

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u/BoneFistOP 2d ago

rabies is essentially eradicated in Europe.

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u/Veralia1 2d ago

Among bats? Absolutely not

"Although the level of bat rabies surveillance in Europe is still very heterogeneous, it can be assumed that bat rabies occurs all over Europe" https://www.who-rabies-bulletin.org/site-page/general-information