Flight Cage

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.
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Littlest pup after first flight!

Older pup

Pups have to watch out for the other flyers

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Waiting for mum to return

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The next morning mum roosted in the sun, we had to shade them

austin bat rehabilitation rescue

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D-Day pup

This pup (D-Day) found himself on the wrong side of Congress Avenue Bridge on June 6th.  Dianne, on her rebirth day, was called by a worried tourist and went down and belly crawled under the railing to rescue him.  He probably crawled out  of his crevice looking for a mum that got picked off by a predator.  He was born a little early (average date of birth for free-tails is June 10th and he was likely born in late May) but lots of pups were 2-3 weeks early this year.  We’ll do our best for this little guy and hopefully release him back at the bridge once he’s graduated from ABR Flight School!

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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:

austin bat atx bats

Sometimes they tilt their heads back like a raccoon eating a grape!

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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

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Posted on , updated on by The Refuge