My rabies fear has returned. I have seen bats flying around my property over the years. Not a ton but some. I have never seen any roosting on my property. My daughter received rabies vaccination a few years ago when a probable bat flew up between her arms from a swing she went to sit in one evening. It cost $8000 at the end of the day. Insurance doesn't pay for it. We have had a bat fly into our house through an open window before. It was about 8 years ago now. It happened before I had any fear of rabies and I did nothing except shoo the bat out the door. My parents live in condo overlooking the bridge in Austin (close to where I live) from which thousands of bats emerge every night. They are a beautiful sight.
6 nights ago I was out on the playground on our property when something stung or bit my foot. It pinched then burned for several seconds. My best guess is that a scorpion was in the wood mulch and I somehow scooped it into my sandal when I went to sit down. I immediately knew it would trigger my rabies fear. We also have snakes. So I got down with my flashlight to investigate. My sister did too. We did not see a bat, snake, scorpion or spider. My foot continued to burn for a few minutes. I went inside to look at it. As far as I could tell there was 1 little red dot consistent with my scorpion theory. The scorpions here are not dangerous so I pushed away the bat thought and went back outside. There were 13 other people on the playground. Many of them children (little birthday party that went late). Nobody saw a bat. Bats cannot take flight from the ground so if there was one it couldn't have flown away. Did I miss a bat climbing under the table? This thought is haunting me. OCD is flaring. Is I even reasonable to go get an $8000 rabies shot under these circumstances? Haven't most people been bit by something unknown and just.. got on with their lives. What would you do? Thanks to everyone who has a moment to answer.