The Joker would have a field day hunting bats in McHenry County

It seems McHenry County could use the Joker right about now.

The ninth rabid bat of the year has been found in McHenry County, the most of any county in Illinois this year, health officials said today.

Last year, McHenry County set a state record with 13 rabid bats.

Right now, Cary seems to be a haven for attracting the diseased animals.

Four rabies-infected bats were discovered in the town this year, including the most recent one, found last Tuesday near a mailbox outside a home.

"There's no particular one reason why we happened to find four so far in Cary," said Debra Quackenbush, a health department spokeswoman. "It's just really the luck of the draw."

Since April, McHenry County authorities have also uncovered three rabid bats in Woodstock one each in Crystal Lake and Island Lake.

So far this year, four bats also have tested positive for rabies in Lake County.

The latest rabid bat found in McHenry County didn't interact with humans.

After the county's other discoveries, 32 people were immunized as a precaution against rabies.

Bats typically avoid people and are active only at night.

So if you find a one near or inside your home that can't fly, it probably has rabies, a sometimes fatal disease that attacks the central nervous system, Quackenbush said.

Authorities advise you to trap bats near your home with a large container or close it off in a room, to leave its remains intact and to immediately contact the animal control department.

Officials there will collect the animal and test its brains for rabies.

If you wait too long, it's harder to detect rabies, Quackenbush said.

Fifteen bats couldn't be tested because they'd either been dead too long or their heads were destroyed, she said.

Bats are the only animals to test positive for the disease in the county.

The phone number to the animal control department is (815) 459-6222.

Authorities also advise you to keep your pets up to date with all immunizations, not to touch animals you think have rabies and to educate children about the disease.

For more information, call the county's communicable disease program at (815) 334-4500.