Matching Challenge Grant Met!
We are so excited to announce that thanks to our wonderful supporters we met the generous $15,000 challenge grant with a month to spare! The funds were granted by a wonderful couple, Gladys Cofrin and Daniel Logan, and will be used for the lifetime care of The Michigan 90.
Update on the Michigan 90
This update is on Bella (in particular). She is an orphaned short-tailed fruit bat, one of the 90 rescued from the now-defunct OBC. Bella’s mother abandoned her (likely due to the stress of the transfer) so she was hand-raised until she was old enough to rejoin her mom and the rest of the colony. Click here to watch her story.
Fire Safety for the Sanctuary
We have been saving for a sprinkler system for the facility, but that plan became financially unfeasible after rescuing the Michigan 90. However, when one door closes, another opens! We received a generous donation from Lynn Hochstetter which allowed us to purchase Barricade Fire Gel, a system that is used during wildfires (our greatest danger). Now, instead of only protecting the main facility from fire, we will be able to protect our bat castle and our caretakers residence as well.
Summer Rescue Videos
Click here to watch videos of some of the orphaned and injured bats we have rescued this summer. Included is footage on saving a baby bat from certain death, feeding orphaned red bat pups, and a tiny princess rescued at our bat castle. Rescues are coming in daily so there are more videos to come!
Summer Workshops and Internships
This summer we hosted Alessandra Tomassini from Tutela Pipistrelli, a bat rescue group in Rome, Italy; and Taylor Driscoll, who is attending the Royal School of Veterinary Studies in Scotland. We also held our 30th workshop on the rehabilitation of insectivorous bats. To date over 200 participants from 24 states and canada have attended our workshops.
Keeping Wild Bats Safe this Summer
Summertime is busy for everyone, including bats. Baby season for our North American bats starts in May and ends in early September, depending on the species. Here are a few tips you can use to help save the lives of the battie buddies living in your own neighborhood.
Bat Castle Repair
Our bat castle developed some major cracks after the ground shifted and settled. Most of our land is typical Texas red clay so shifting occurs occasionally. We called in a foundation expert and joists were applied to one side and one end of the castle. Because the other side and end sits on solid rock, there is no danger of the foundation shifting again. Thanks to donor support we were able to use a portion of our emergency funds to cover this critical repair. For more information on the bat castle, click here.
Sunshine Rescue Club
This has been one of the busiest summers we have had in years, mostly due to the renovations occurring in a nearby town. Bats once occupying old buildings have lost their homes and moved into roosts in other buildings, causing severe overcrowding. The horrific heat we are experiencing, combined with the overcrowding, has caused bats to become grounded. Many heat-exhausted bats are found clinging weakly to the outside of buildings. We have rescued up to 20 bats DAILY this week alone. If you would like to support our rescue efforts please consider joining the Sunshine Rescue Club. Click here to join and help us save bats!
New Bat Goodies!
Not only do we have lots of new items in our store (100% of the proceeds help us rescue bats!), but we have teamed up with batgoods.com, a site that has bat products galore! Choose “BWS” at checkout and each purchase you make will generate a donation to Bat World Sanctuary! Please check out our new goodies here, and click here to visit batgoods.com.