D’Hanis Bridge early Feb
Big bloom at D’Hanis Bridge, west of Hondo, the last few nights. We’ve seen little activity there all winter until just recently.
Author: The Refuge
Lots of mid-winter bats
Surprisingly large blooms from Fern Cave Stuart Cave and Old Tunnel at 7:30 pm last night. Each bloom represents many hundreds of thousands of bats.
We expect big blooms from McNeil Bridge on warm winter nights, but in our experience it’s unusual to see such large blooms from the other roosts.
Win
Kindness Is Everything
The Flood family just became new members of the bat protection squad!
Thanks y’all for your act of compassion!
Here’s their post:
“We rescued this darling little Mexican Free-tailed bat earlier this evening as he was grounded in the middle of the road and nearly hit by several passing cars. We brought him home and called Lee and Diane at Austin Bat Refuge…they took him in and knew just what to do! 
💕 Thankfully he had no broken bones and he seemed to be very healthy. Afer some TLC from Lee and Diane @ Austin Bat Refuge, it sounds like he’s going to be ok and will most likely be released back into the wild! 
😊So thankful to them for all they do for these little guys… 💕If you ever find a grounded or injured bat, make sure to give them a call….and donate if you can! They have the biggest hearts for these little guys and do so much to house and care for the injured bats. Good people!!! Good cause!!! “
Resources from Merlin
Big Old Tunnel flight 16Jan2017
Close to a million bats emerge from Old Tunnel on the evening of January 16, 2017. This is the first time they’ve showed up on our radar since New Year’s Eve.
“Spring” cleaning
This tri-colored bat is taking advantage of the warmer weather to do a little “spring” cleaning.
Local Bat Squad Wins First Place in Lego Challenge!
Laurel Mountain FLL team researches bats, wins best ‘Animal Allies’ project
A project focused on bats and a possible solution to the Zika Virus led the “Batter Up” First Lego League (FLL) team from Laurel Mountain Elementary School to win the Best Project Award at the latest FLL competition in December 2016.
The team consists of Laurel Mountain fourth-grade students Ram Sivaraman, Naithruv Kashyap, Tanvi Reddy, Kael Kanudson and Adam Menezes and fifth-grade students Michael Rao and Matthew Rao. The group began the research project in August 2016 as part of the FLL Animal Allies challenge, which tasked students to present projects that explained how animals and humans help each other.
“Bats play a vital role in pollinating our crops since bees and hummingbirds are active only during the day,” Niathurv said. “Bats also eat mosquitoes and many other insects and prevent many mosquito-borne viruses such as malaria, yellow fever and Zika.”
The team visited the bat colony at the South Congress Bridge in Austin and met with a bat specialist from Bat Conservation to understand threats bats face in Austin. As the team learned that the bats’ habitats are decreasing, renovating a bat house became part of the project, which they donated to the Zilker Botanical Garden. The team also built a website to report bat sightings to track bat movement in Central Texas.
“The ‘Batter Up’ team completed months of research and enriched our students’ knowledge on the importance of bats as part of the FLL project,” Laurel Mountain Principal Jan Richards said. “It’s inspiring to see our students take initiative to share their knowledge to better our community and environment.”
First Intake of 2017
Our first intake of 2017, a beautiful male eastern red bat, blown out of a tree during a storm. Thanks for saving him Ralph!
Thank You Donors! You Are Angels!
As we approach the end of the calendar year, our first as an organization, we want to take the time to thank all the wonderful donors who have given of their time and money to help bats in trouble in Central Texas.
You prevented suffering for over 150 bats this year; a great majority of whom arrived due to human or human-related causes. You gave these bats a second chance at a wild and free life. Some had very serious injuries and did not survive, but you provided a safe and comfortable spot for all in which they could either recover or pass on in peace.
They all knew that someone cared. You did. Thank you!
If any of you had meant to donate, but wanted to see how the end-of-the-year tax situation played out, here is a worthy cause, an opportunity to show compassion for the little souls that make up a big part of our natural world here in urban Texas.
We’re so grateful for the support shown to our friends and allies, the bats!
Cold-stunned bats Released!
The strongest cold front in years blew through last week and bats in Austin suffered through the cold and windy nights. Many fell, cold-stunned out of their roosts. But kind-hearted people safely contained some and brought them to us for thawing, some bats every day for a week! We filled their bellies with tasty mealworms and had the pleasure of sharing some Holiday spirit with them. And last night it was finally warm enough to release many of them.
This little guy is your bat Jocelyn. He’s a great bat and he would have died if you hadn’t cared enough to rescue him. Thank You!
And thanks to Christie, Christina, Giselle, and Natalie stopping and taking the time to care for those bats you saved. You are Heroes!
Here’s Natalie’s bat flying off into the night to join the few thousand others overwintering under the Congress Avenue Bridge.
