Wow! This summer has been the busiest to date. Aside from aiding in the rescue of over 400 bats across the country so far this season, the entire staff has been working 7 days a week, oftentimes past midnight, helping with rescue calls and our own physical rescues to save bats. Summer is vacation season, so we are also short on volunteers and needed to hire summer help to keep up with our increasing workload. Other bat rescuers across North America are also seeing increased numbers of bats needing help and they frequently reach out to us for advice and supplies, which we gladly provide. In every spare moment we have, we arrange transport for bats across the U.S. through our volunteer transport network so starving orphans and injured bats can get to rescuers. We have dealt with several cruelty cases recently as well as saving bats from well-meaning, but ill-informed, finders of bats who were feeding baby bats absurd foods like raw venison and orange juice. Additionally, we have saved entire colonies of bats from being destroyed in eight states. We work hard to prevent lethal and oftentimes very cruel means being used against bats and instead, encourage building and home owners to wait until pup season is over so the colony can be humanely excluded after the babies can fly. If all this were not enough, we came in to feed orphaned bats one morning this week and walked into a flooded building from a water pipe that burst! As they say, “When it rains, it pours” (literally). Keep reading to see more of our efforts!
PUP CATCHERS SAVE LIVES!
We were alerted to baby bats falling from a karate sign and arrived just in time to save a starving orphan who was about to fall. Apparently, a group of free-tail bats decided to set up a nursery colony behind the sign. Fortunately, Scott, the business owner, alerted us so we could put up a pup catcher and monitor the colony throughout the summer. Our pup catchers (created by Bat World in the late 90s) help “catch” fallen pups from the roost so healthy babies are able to climb back up to their mothers. The little boy we rescued was about a week old and we’ve named him Norris. Bats are very good mothers so something likely happened to his mom one night when she was out hunting insects. Little Norris will be hand raised with the other orphans in care and in 10 to 12 weeks, when he is old enough to survive on his own, he will be released to karate-chop insect pests into oblivion!
(As always, do NOT handle a bat with bare hands! We are trained and vaccinated, and sometimes forgo gloves for better control- especially with the babies. Handling a bat barehanded puts you at risk, and the bat at risk of being euthanized.)
BABY BAT BREAKFAST
As we near the halfway point of pup season, our incubators are filled with orphaned infants and young bats getting ready to return to the wild. While our Eastern red bat pups are learning to eat mealworms and practicing their flying skills, the Mexican free-tail pups are cuddled up and nursing on foam tips. Soon the Eastern red bats will depart from our care and take to the night sky, munching on insects such as moths and mosquitos, and making the evenings a bit more bearable for us humans. The rest of our pups will remain with us for many more weeks, requiring frequent feedings of our specialized milk formula before they begin to transition to insects. As they grow older, they will move from the incubators to our flight enclosure, where they will have the chance to stretch their wings to the fullest for the very first time. This time of year, it is more important than ever that you know who your nearest bat rehabilitator is. If you find a bat, please use our map to find your local rescuer, or give us a call at 940-325-3404. Bat pups often cannot be reunited with their mothers, and a bat rescuer should always see a photo before recommending release.
VICTORY IN THE SEYCHELLES ISLANDS!
Thanks to the compassionate souls who rallied behind and contributed to our letter campaign ‘The Plight of the Seychelles Flying Fox’ our efforts have triumphed! We have received a notification that SO FAR, four restaurants have voluntarily eliminated the horrible bat dishes from their menus! Stay tuned for further updates, and follow Protect Paradise Seychelles on Facebook to learn more about the bats of the Seychelles islands.
FLOOD ON THE 4TH OF JULY
Our entire facility was flooded after a water line ruptured one night outside of our fruit bat enclosure. We jumped into action with dozens of towels and two shop vacs to help extract as much water as possible, but the padded flooring in all three flight enclosures was soaked and had to be replaced. With baby season in full swing, a flood is certainly the last thing we needed. Between staff and volunteers working overtime to care for orphaned pups, and the financial strain that comes along with our busiest time of the year, this was an unwelcome surprise. We had to dip into our bat care funds to complete the repairs. Consequently, we are now humbly asking for our supporters help in recouping bat care funds for summer rescues. Any amount is sincerely appreciated. As a 501c3, donations are tax deductible. Please Click here to donate.