Evening flyer
True to her name this evening bat was out picking off moths well before dark. Injuries made her just a little too slow to make it in the wild, but she loves hunting the flight cage!
evening bat
Checkin in
You doin ok in your log Zonker? Just checkin, good bat.
Little Brown Bat Rock Art
Last year I purchased an art piece for my friends at Austin Bat Refuge, Lee and Dianne; the art work is by Kitty Cantrell. It is her rock art ” Little Brown Bats” It is several little browns on a rock wall and it’s very life like. A few weekends ago Lee and Dianne had a Evening Bat come in for rescue. Evening Bats look a lot like Little Browns except they are smaller and darker color. Sometimes the bats that come in are tested in smaller places to see how well they can fly after necessary rehabilitation has been given. The little bat was enjoying a flight around the front room. Little Evening Bats can fly very swiftly and can crawl on the ground even faster. Its like chasing a cock roach. They can land very suddenly and tuck themselves away in the smallest of places. They are crevice bats after all. Flying around she decided to take a quick stop so fast she almost wasn’t seen. Dianne noticed she had landed and tucked herself right up against one of the Little Brown Bats on the rock art. The little bat was probably wondering why her new found family members weren’t putting off any body heat and why they weren’t clicking to her to greet her. Never the less, she knew she was safe with her new family. She was so happy she even fell asleep all snuggled up to them. Some people mistakenly think that bats can’t see well! That is a myth! They see quite fine day or night. As for Kitty’s art it has been Little Bat tested and Little Bat approved! And to me that is how life-like her art is! I truly Love and believe in Lee, Dianne and Kitty’s missions to make life better and beautiful in the appreciation of Bats and other wildlife. Thanks for reading! Marsha
Zonker’s dinner options
Zonker thought about dinner to go but decided on room service instead!
Now for the evening bats
The aviary seems huge now that most of this year’s class has graduated from flight school. But now that they’re not grabbing all the visual attention, we can better analyze the skills of the more cryptic species, such as this evening bat, to decide who else is ready for release.
Kendalia bat from Linda Garriot
This year’s first 3 evening bat pups
Look at the color change as they get older – black when tiny turning a beautiful mahogany as they near adulthood.
Pup 2 on the left about 12 days old – 2.9 grams – being fed every 3 hours
Found in a Houston backyard next to an apartment complex being demolished. He was still clinging to his dead mum when Savannah rescued him. Thanks Savannah!
Pup 3 in the middle about 3 days old – 1.9 grams – being fed every 2 hours
Found in Kingsland with her injured mum at the base of a tree. This pup brought to us by Ally when the mum died. Thanks for trying to help the mum Ally and likewise for bringing us this pup.
Pup 1 (Fury) on the right about 51 days old – 8.0 grams – being hand fed once a day in the flight cage bat box
Born to a rehabilitating bat who came to us from Adamsville, already pregnant, unbeknownst to us. We were treating the mum for a fungal infection when she gave birth 05 Apr 2016.
The two pups on the left are wonderful, playful little guys that love to romp around and purr like crazy when their bellies are full. Fury (on the right) was not happy about being associated with these infants, he’s a big bat now and he and his mum are almost ready for release.
Feeding just these pups every 3 hours and every 2 hours makes for a busy schedule.
Eve the Evening bat & Fury the Night Fury
Here’s our first glimpse of Fury, Eve’s pup, his tiny wing sticking up above her belly.
Eve the evening bat and her pup Fury the furious Night Fury
Eve came to us in a piece of firewood that had been standing dead timber on a ranch in Adamsville until 28 Jan 2016 when it was felled, limbed, cut into pieces, and run through a log splitter, revealing Eve uninjured in her tree cavity. The log was quickly taped back together and put in a box and brought to us by the landowners, by way of our good friend Ed Sones. Since she was missing fur in a circular pattern on her back, we swabbed and cultured for ringworm. Three weeks later the culture was negative so we just are giving her supportive care until she regrows the fur that will allow her to effectively thermo-regulate once she’s released to find a new roost.
Since she had a heating pad above her pup tent while undergoing treatment, she must have thought spring started in February, so consequently she gave birth to Fury on 05 April 2016, one of the first births in the country, at least the first one named after Toothless the Night Fury, star of How to Train Your Dragon (who, of course, was modeled after a baby evening bat).
Eve’s tree house that was cut for firewood
Fury grew quickly to 5.1 grams within a week of birth. His mum was very attentive and he reached 7 grams in three weeks.
Eve has since weaned little Fury, always a sketchy time in bat rehab. He did not like the formula we used and accepted it even less when we added blended mealworms to the mix. Thankfully, he is now transitioning to whole mealworms so it looks like he will soon get the hang of self-feeding.
Here’s their log, hung as a roost, and allowing Fury to leap out and practice flying when he gets the urge. They can come back and roost in the maternity pup tent (rigged to stay out of the way, below) if they like or return to Eve’s tree house if they feel like it. Last night, with the storms, they stayed in the tree house all night.
Eve & Fury’s tree house with new hinges and latch, The pup tent Fury was born in hung below
Flight school – Here’s Fury flapping like crazy to get back to the roost Fury’s first leap – flight school
This is the best motivation for young pups just figuring out what these wing things are for.