Please do not hit the bat with a tennis racket

August is for lovers -- lovers of human-bat encounters, that is! It's the peak month for bat bites in Minnesota.

If you've seen Old Yeller, you know that rabies isn't a way anyone wants to go out. So if you get bit by a cute l'il echolocator, here's a list of what to do and what to avoid:

DO

3. Get tested for rabies

2. Get tested for rabies

1. Hit on attractive veterinarian, doctor, nurse, other rabies-tester

DON'T

3. Wait around until you start frothing at the mouth

2. Turn into a vampire

1. Hit the bat with a tennis racket

"Sometimes when people are capturing bats they injure the bat enough that the bat can't be tested. So yes, please do not hit the bat with a tennis racket," [Health department veterinarian Joni] Scheftel said.

Gold clubs are also presumably a no-no. I've got a call in about lacrosse sticks, though.