Dear supporter,
Baby season has officially begun! Our incubators are filling up, and our caregivers are hard at work handling rescue calls and offering advice on bat situations all across the world. Amidst all of the pup season chaos and new intakes, we had the chance to get some community education work done, as well as finish out a very successful fundraiser!
Save the Orphans Fundraiser Results!
Back in May, we had a very generous donor offer up to $1,000 in matching funds. With the help of our amazing supporters, we were able to reach, and greatly surpass, our original goal! Between all of our donation portals, we were able to raise a total of $3,869 for the bats! These funds will be invaluable this summer as we run through formula ingredients, mealworms, and gas from our rescue missions. We would like to extend a massive thank you to all who made this such a successful fundraiser, and to our wonderful donor, Cheryl White. The generosity of our supporters never ceases to amaze us!
Baby Season Beginnings…
Lots of new little faces have joined us at the sanctuary! Although we typically start seeing Eastern red bats first in the summer, this year it’s all about the evening bats. First, 9 pups joined us after their colony was disturbed at a home in Hillsboro, Texas. A hollow tree was cut down that had a colony of mothers and baby evening bats inside. The homeowner contacted us after gathering up the babies and placing them into a box (the mothers had flown away). The homeowner was unwilling to help us reunite mother and pups so they were transported to us. We will hand-raise the babies and then release them when they are old enough to survive on their own. The very next day, we were contacted about a grounded newborn evening bat pup that had no mother in sight, and she was welcomed into our little group with open wings! Pictured above is Jellybean, nursing her milk formula from a foam tip. This bat is being held by a vaccinated and trained wildlife rehabilitator. Please never rescue a bat barehanded!
Henry the Mexican free-tail
Little Henry was enjoying a midnight bug hunt when he found himself within the clasp of a curious (and possibly hungry) feral cat. Even though he managed to escape this unfortunate run-in with his life, he was left with multiple painful wing lesions. Terrified and injured, Henry took refuge in the breezeway of an apartment building in Odessa, TX. As the sun rose and the Texas heat scorched the building, Henry found himself unable to move to safety… but he continued to hold on, refusing to give up. In the nick of time, a kind family found him in this impaired condition and jumped into action to help. With no bat rehabilitator within a close perimeter, the finders made the nearly 5 hour drive to Bat World Sanctuary in order to ensure little Henry’s safety. Although Henry is now stable, this little guy has large holes in his wings and was severely dehydrated to boot. He will require several months in our care before hopefully being released. In the meantime, we will provide antibiotics and supportive care until his wing membrane heals.
We believe in you, Henry. You will heal back in no time.
Local Education & Outreach
The Bat World team hits the town!
Armed with tote bags full of informational flyers, our staff visited local business in the downtown area of Mineral Wells, Texas to introduce themselves to the community and share helpful information for the upcoming baby season. Mineral Wells is home to several large bat colonies that we rescue from every year. With recent renovations in the downtown area these colonies are being disturbed. Our Vice President, Assistant Director, and Director of Education spoke with local business owners and employees to encouraging them to contact us with any questions or rescues needed as pups begin to emerge in the area.
Leaving each business with their own stack of flyers, they were encouraged to share them with their patrons in order to assist in educating the locals about the importance of our bat colonies. Click here to view an enlarged version of the flyer shown below.
Please take a moment to browse through our rescue log and learn more about the many rescues you supported this month. These rescues happen because of the kindness and generosity of donors like you and supporters who have joined our Sunshine Rescue Club. For more information on how you can join the Sunshine Rescue Club and help us save more lives, click here.
Thank you so much to our supporters, we truly could not do this without you. You make it possible for us to save lives, and we are endlessly grateful.
Bat World Sanctuary