Reunited, and it feels so good ♫

Dear Bat World Sanctuary supporter,

We hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth of July! We celebrated the birth of our nation with the births of more baby bats, and nonstop calls across the US from the public as well as bat rehabilitators. Being in the USA brings us great pride in the fact that we have the freedom of running a bat sanctuary 365 days a year, and it is such a privilege to be able to save these tiny lives. A few of our more notable rescues are mentioned below but please also take a look at our rescue log to see more lives we are saving.

ACE OF BASE, REUNITED

On June 28th, we received a call from an Ace Hardware store in Clifton, TX. The caller stated that he had found a tiny, pink bat with the umbilical cord still attached, which meant the baby had just been born. We rushed to find transport and later that day little “Ace” arrived safe and sound. He was hydrated, fed and quickly settled in with the other orphans in our care. Then, the following day, on June 29th, we received another call from the Ace Hardware store. This time they had found an adult bat on the floor. The bat was very weak and “not in good shape at all”. We again rushed to find transport and later the same day, the bat arrived. We were hoping that it might be Ace’s mother but also knew that the odds were low. Still, we hoped. The adult bat arrived and she was extremely dehydrated and weak. She received emergency fluids via injection and a few drops of hydrolyzed protein, which helped her revive enough to finally receive food. Later, when she was examined, we discovered she had very recently given birth and she was lactating. Fingers crossed, we introduced her to Ace and he appeared to recognize her immediately! He became excited and nuzzled her all over. His mother is still recovering and not quite strong enough to nurse little Ace so we are feeding him until she is well enough to take over. In the meantime, they are snuggling together constantly while receiving supportive care from us. Ace and his mother “Base” are indeed reunited, and it feels so good! We would like to extend a huge thank you to the volunteer transporters who helped make this reunion possible, and also named Ace’s mom “Base” and helped make this miraculous reunion possible.

WESTON

Little Weston is an Eastern red bat, and he sure had an exciting start to life. Weston is a older pup but not quite weaned so he should have been with his mother. Instead, this baby was found on a bridge support over a river! He either tried to fly much too early, or was possibly clinging to his mother and fell off when she took flight. Thankfully, a very kind family spotted him and contacted us, and a Bat World staff member rushed out to find him. Although Weston was surely enjoying the view of the river, dangling above a large body of rushing water isn’t a safe place for a baby bat. He will stay with us until he is full grown and he passes his flying exams. As an aside, Weston later participated in a cute live-stream “Storytime” for children about a baby red bat. Click here to watch the video.

OTHER ORPHANS IN CARE

Along with helping bat rescuers and the public across the US, we are taking in dozens of orphaned bats as well. As of this writing, we have rescued 12 evening bat pups, 7 red bat pups, 2 free-tail orphans and 3 pregnant free-tails who are due to give birth any day. Among these is little Nibbler, an evening bat pup (video above) who came in starving. Just this morning he graduated from milk formula to eating solid food! Please excuse his baldness. This condition often occurs when orphaned bats become emaciated and suffer nutritional deficiencies before they are rescued. Little Nibbler will regrow his fur before being released. If you would like to help us with the many expenses of caring for orphaned bats this summer, please click here.

HOW TO CONTAIN A BAT IN NEED

In the video below, Bat World’s Jessica Anderson offers quick and simple instructions on how to contain a bat for transport to a trained bat rehabilitator. Please call Bat World Sanctuary at 940-325-3404 if you find a bat or visit our website to locate a rehabilitator near you.

BE A BAT HERO!

One of the hardest parts of orphan bat season is not just feeding the many motherless pups that come in, it’s finding transport to get these tiny babies to us. Oftentimes, bat rescuers are so busy feeding babies round-the-clock that they have no time to go get another bat in need, and doing so means that hungry pups in their care won’t get fed and their health will decline. In times like these, we rely on the public to help transport bats to us as it allows us to save more lives. This month we developed a “Be a #BatHero” call to action and have been able to get several bats the help they need across the US. If you would like to be a transport volunteer for rescued bats in your area, please use this form so we can add you to our list!

MATCHING GRANT FUNDRAISER RESULTS

Thanks to our generous supporters, we were able to not only meet the goal of $2,500 for our “Second Chance” matching grant, we once again exceeded it!  These funds are already being put to use to not only care for the elderly fruit bats but to also purchase milk formulas, medications, food and fuel for rescuing orphaned bats. Please accept a huge THANK YOU to everyone who made this matching grant fundraiser a success, and an immeasurable thank you to longtime supporter, Theresa M., for her generous heart! ♥

OUR NEW LOGO

We plan to build a new and more user-friendly website in the coming months. You will start to see our new logo from time to time as we make the transition. Hopefully, our new website will be up and running by the end of the year!