Eating practice
Catching prey is only half the battle! Bats still have to curl & kick to subdue their catch while flying. This eastern red male still needs to refine his technique!
Eastern red
What a great mum!
This is an eastern red bat mum that has four nursing pups. (Yes, it’s the bat you brought us Laurie, we found another pup tucked under her wing!) She flies very well, as do two of her pups, the other two are not yet volant, but they all find each other the next morning. She is doing a great job raising these pups and we’re happy to help her get over that little glitch that found her grounded.
Eastern reds have four nipples. Both nipples on her left side are visible in this photo and it’s apparent that the lower one is offset, to the outside, from the midline of her chest. That offset allows all four pups to fit symmetrically so that all can nurse without overlapping. Overlapping would cause more jostling for position, attracting attention from predators, and so has been evolutionarily eliminated.
Late Last Night
Love the wing shape in this photo of an eastern red pup (17-79) brought to us by Adam Warren from Silver Dale in SW Austin
Lots of action in the flight cage last night!
This bat is curling up on a moth it just caught, rolling it into its tail membrane and kicking it to subdue and eat it. All of this done while flying and scarcely missing a beat.
A closeup of that shot
Adam’s bat showing his chops
Pretty wing conformation on this tri-colored bat.
Here’s another bat curling up on a moth. Lots of action under the blacklight!
This Barred Owl juvy was raised nearby and we’re trying to run him off. Way easier said than done. 
Finally got him to go, but grudgingly and he’ll probably be back before the night is through. At least the pups will recognize a predator the next time they see one. For many bat pups, the firs time they see an owl is the last time they see anything, so we’re glad ours get another chance.
In the morning, pups were scattered all over the place, this one right out in the open. He is the first of Laurie’s pups to fly off on his own. The mum flew off with the others still on her. We found her and reunited them so they could snuggle through the day.
These pups are trying to look like just another dead leaf.
Here’s Laurie’s mum with her pups on her, but with Alvaro and Michelle trying to adopt her. We got them all straightened out, reunited the family, fed and watered all for the day. What a night!
Morning after First Flight
We opened all the pup tents last night for the first time. We played lifeguard for a while as the pups rolled out, some in flight and some on the ground! We picked them up one after another to give them another chance to drop into flight. All of them got it by the end of the night, but some were low on the flight cage walls in the morning. We are so proud of them!
These two pups found their mum and here all are enjoying a nice breakfast
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Eastern red mum in the garden
Eastern red girl patrolling the cherry tomatoes.
39 intakes 2 weeks!
We just took in our 103rd bat of the year, 39 of which came to us in the last 2 weeks.
June is always crazy around here and this year is no exception.
We’ve had bats of seven species this month; northern yellows, southern yellows, Seminoles, eastern reds, free-tails, velifers, and evening bats.
It’s crazy, exhausting, and exhilarating work. But what a priviledge and an honor to be able to give these pups a second chance at life.
Dripping reds
This red bat family was found grounded in the middle of a side-street in Dripping Springs. The young single-mum was a pup herself just last summer and she may have been struggling to feed and manage her young family. She was emaciated, and was so lucky that Jacque spotted her before the grackles or bluejays did. Nice save Jacque! She and the pups have been rehydrated and their bellies filled and are now having a snooze at the top of the aviary. She knows she and her pups are safe for now.
That night the mum flew and the pups watched her for a while, then the bigger pup joined her. The little pup felt pretty lonesome and after a while took her very first flight. Both pups negotiated all the other flying bats and landed successfully at the top of the cage. By morning they had found mum and the whole family was snoozing together once it got light.
Littlest pup after first flight!
Older pup
Pups have to watch out for the other flyers
Waiting for mum to return
The next morning mum roosted in the sun, we had to shade them
Pups of the Season
Left to right: Evening bat male, red bat female, Seminole bat male
These pups should all still be with their mums and they know it. The bat milk replacer doesn’t taste the same and the mealworm guts are interesting, but not what they really want. They would normally be getting a taste of insects at this age by nuzzling their mum’s mouth, and they seem to need the supplemental nutrition with the milk replacers we use. Once they eat some guts, they end up with the worm in their mouths as a pacifier and pretty much just zone out. See video below:
Sometimes they tilt their heads back like a raccoon eating a grape!
Red Bats and Red Tomatoes!
“These tomatoes are almost as red as my fur! Looks like they are ready to be eaten!”- Gabe the red bat
This season’s garden is a hit! Our flight cage is bursting with summer colors as our cherry tomatoes ripen, and our eastern red bats enjoy pampering from volunteers. The garden growing within the flight cage offers a natural, and energized environment for our bats. By attracting moths, the garden allows bats to practice their predatory skills during flight. Offering bats in rehabilitation an opportunity to exercise behaviors that are necessary to survival in the wild make the flight cage and the bat garden an important part of our rehabilitation process. An appreciation for the summer crop is shared by the bats and also our volunteers, who enjoy snacking on sweet, refreshing cherry tomatoes while working hard in the summer heat
Our first red bat pups of 2017!
Here we go! First red bat pups of the year!
The official (and earliest ever) start of our busiest season.
Three weeks earlier than 2016; one week earlier than 2015; two and a half weeks earlier than 2014.
This red bat mum was rescued by Selma and although one of her wings is pretty torn up, the pups seem to be doing fine. Great save Selma!
Here’s the best look we could get without disturbing her.
She’s been hanging by one foot and has her pups clenched to her breast with her tails wrapped around them.
Classic red bat pose!