I confess to not having read the entire thread carefully, but did not see anyone say that bat bites are so small that they often go undetected.

Don't know about your region, Dan, but rabies is a fairly common and significant problem where I live in North Carolina. About every 8 or 10 years the problem balloons into a significant epidemic, so we tend to be vigilant.   It is essential here that when contact by humans or pets is had with animal species that are known carriers, especially when there is some indication of unusual behavior by the carrier species animal, that the risk of rabies be taken very seriously.   This season, which is not an especially bad one, two women have been bitten by rabid foxes within a 15 mile radius of my home, and rabies thus far has been confirmed in other foxes, bats, raccoons and skunks within that same radius, at least one just a few blocks from my house.

I am a lover and observer of the natural world and a bit (a very small bit, admittedly) of a naturalist. Saying this so you know I am not coming from a place of fear of the environment and it's inhabitants, but from a place of rational caution. Where Donuel lives, rabies may be a pretty rare occurrence, and bats an even more rare carrier. Where I live, "playing" with bats would be foolhardy. That doesn't mean bats are to be feared and avoided, but it does mean I don't want them in my house, nor to intentionally allow them to fly close or become acclimated to my very near presence. If a bat intentionally approaches me, I need for that to be a warning sign of abnormal behavior. The same may not be true in areas or regions where rabies is uncommon or rare.