Handyman tries to save life of bat found in sink at Glendale office
GLENDALE, Calif. (KABC) -- A handyman with a heart makes a startling discovery in a Glendale office -- a bat in a sink. Most people would run screaming the other way, but maintenance worker Raul Morcillo did his best to help.
While Morcillo, a life-long animal lover, can do just about anything, from plumbing to electrical, but animal rescue is not in his work description.
As went to wash his hands, in the sink, Morcillo saw what he thought was a mouse, then, he turned on the lights.
"The front paws of the mouse were kind of long and I went, 'that's not a mouse," said Morcillo. "I looked a little closer and sure enough it was a bat."
WATCH: LA County health officials explain what to do if you encounter a bat
Without food or water, the tiny bat was in bad shape. Morcillo, wanting to help, posted his discovery to his neighborhood app. A couple of bat experts he got in contact with were out of town.
Morcillo did what he could -- he gave the bat a towel and a cap of water. And as crazy as it might sound, he formed a connection.
"I would talk to him, he would move his little ears and his head, he'd pick it up," Morcillo explained.
Those conversations were not enough, the bat did not survive.
Though rabies is very uncommon in California, an expert gave us this advice, in the rare event something like this happens to you.
"The safest thing to do is isolate the room, which means you would shut all the doors that you can leading into the room, and then open all doors that exit the building and all windows at the same time," said Matthew Hawkins of Hawkins Animal Trapping and Removal.
Regardless of how it ended, to Raul, it's more than just a bat, it's a lesson of co-existing, and helping any creature no matter what it is.
"I have kids, I thought about the kind of world I want my kids to live in, and I figured it starts with me," said Morcillo.
