OTTAWA, Kan. -- A Kansas family is waiting for a rabies test to come back after a 9-year-old boy was bit by a bat he found in his yard.

Dominick Emperley said he found four bats in the grass in the front yard of his family's home in Ottawa. He was feeling adventurous, so he picked them up.

"Went over got a cage and put them on the porch," Dominick told KMBC's Dan Weinbaum.

"We put them in a cage because the dog catcher doesn't work on Sundays," said Jennifer Ray, Dominick's mother.

She said they planned to let the bats go eventually. But the bats had a mind of their own -- two got loose in the house, and only one was caught.

And then on Tuesday, the missing bat found Dominick.

"He was getting his swim trunks to go swimming and a baby bat latched onto his finger," Ray said. "I was scared, so I called the ER."

The police were called because of the bats.

"They're already gone. The police took them," Dominick said.

"They were put down by a local vet and sent to K-State for (rabies) testing," Ottawa police Chief Dennis Butler said.

Police cited Ray for keeping exotic animals within city limits

"You can't keep wild or exotic animals as pets in your home," Butler said.

Meanwhile, Dominick said he's learned a lesson about bats.

"Don't touch them," the 9-year-old said.

But his mother said Dominick still wants other pets.

"Snakes, frogs, hermit crabs -- he wants a fish and a bird," Ray said.

"I like scaring my dad with snakes," Dominick said.

Ray paid more than $400 to have the bats tested. She's fine for the citation, but the police chief said she probably won't serve any jail time.