Brown Bat Intake/Release:- First Successful Rearing at the Center for Wildlife!

By: Lorisa Ricketts, Rehabilitation Staff

When they hear the word “bat”, many people immediately think of horror films, vampires, and unprovoked attacks. In reality, bats are intelligent, clean, social, and amazingly helpful in controlling insect pests like mosquitoes – some species catching up to 1,200 insects in one hour. The Center for Wildlife takes in quite a few adult bats every year, but we were treated to a brand-new experience last summer when a family came to the Center carrying a small bundle containing a skinny, weak and dehydrated baby Big Brown bat. They had found the baby on the ground and after speaking with a local bat expert, had tried unsuccessfully to reunite her with her mother. By the time she came to CFW, the baby had been without food for at least two days and was cold and weak. Although we weren’t sure of her chances for survival, we set about trying to save her life by first warming her and administering frequent small injections of fluids under her skin to help re-hydrate her. She was then slowly introduced to a special dilute bat formula fed to her from a specially designed nipple.

A staff member took her home to give her essential around the clock care. The first two days were touch and go, but when the baby started to slowly gain weight, we knew we were on the right track. Over the next month, the baby developed a personality and responsiveness, “purring” by vibrating her little body when groomed and falling asleep after meals. Soon her appetite soared on formula and retrieving the tiny bat nipple from her became a challenge until she was introduced to the viscera of mealworms (a type of beetle larvae). Soon she was ready to try whole mealworms and, once she discovered she liked them, she learned to take them herself from a dish and quickly preferred bugs to her formula! By this time, she was very active, climbing and beginning to flap her wings and was transferred to a mesh cage that allowed her to climb on all sides and on the ceiling. Thus, began her “flying lessons.” In the wild, a mother bat will encourage her baby to flap and take short flights, sometimes using food as an incentive. We gave our baby bat the same encouragement and were amazed that after only two attempts, she figured out what we were trying to teach her, and began launching herself into the air and taking short drops onto a well-padded surface. We moved her into progressively larger mesh enclosures where she learned to spiral down to get food and then climb up to the top again.

Once she was showing signs of really flying and was at a good weight, we put her in a much larger flight enclosure at the Center to make absolutely sure she could fly well before release – a critical skill because bats catch most of their food in the air. After some initial uncertainty, she flew beautifully, and we knew she was ready to go. We waited for a nice spell of warm, dry weather and on August 23^rd we took her to a farm where there is an established colony of Big Brown bats. She flew wonderfully when we let her go, and we wished good luck to a very special little bat.

If you find a bat in need of help or discover you have a bat living in your house, you should call for advice before attempting to move or capture the animal. You should never handle a bat (or any mammal, even a baby) with your bare hands, and contact of any kind should be kept to a minimum to reduce stress on the animal and avoid injury to it or to the handler. CFW staff members are trained in handling techniques and are required to receive pre-exposure rabies vaccines before working with bats. Less than one half a percent of bats ever get this disease, and those that do rarely bite except in self-defense and pose little threat to humans. However, CFW always recommends care and caution when dealing with any animal, both for its safety and for that of its rescuer.

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The Center tries to give much needed care but still allow the animals to be wild, with the intention of letting them go when they are ready to care for themselves. Too much "love" can result in a baby animal imprinting on the humans caring for it and that makes it difficult to release. If you find an animal that seems to be in need, keep an eye on it for while before you decide to take it in. Sometimes, Mom is right around the corner and will retrieve a baby in a short while. If you do decide to intervene, call the Center and get instructions on how to properly handle the animal or call the Animal Control officer in your town.