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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!

Posted on , updated on by The Refuge

Cottonwood Foundation

Thanks so much to the Cottonwood Foundation for the generous grant to our fledgling organization!

The seed money they have provided will make a huge difference for the orphaned, injured, and displaced bats of Central Texas.

We are honored to join over 400 organizations whose diverse projects they have funded, including half-way homes for battered women, a library for children in Kenya, a dance studio in Harlem, a jobs program in the Bronx, arts in the Connecticut prison system, combating hunger, innovative pre-schools, peace work, disability rights, etc.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
Austin Bat Refuge

Posted on , updated on by The Refuge

Remember the little ones this Holiday Season!

Dear Bat Friends,
Please remember the little ones as we count our blessings.
Donate Now! to help Gabe the red bat and pups like this free-tailed baby.

eastern red bat austin bataustin bat Congress Avenue Bridge

As we enter the holiday season, the world celebrates community, supporting the causes that make the world a better place for all its inhabitants.  In our first year, Austin Bat Refuge has already created a center of gravity, attracting donations and a small core of young interns, many or whom will go on to careers in wildlife work.  In this season of giving, we ask you to get involved and support Austin Bat Refuge, the only organization in Central Texas caring exclusively for orphaned, injured, and displaced bats.

Your kind donation is critical to bats, our fascinating friends and allies.
Donate Here to help these wonderful, misunderstood beings.
Or write a check and mail to:
Austin Bat Refuge
P.O. Box 49902
Austin, TX 78765

Here are other ways you can show your support:
Sign up for our Newsletter:
Volunteer:
Donate Items:
and yes, as many of you have done, even
Rescue a Bat in Trouble

or simply:
Follow us on Social Media:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Those of you who have brought us an injured bat may have received the following note from us, thanking you for your efforts.  We’ll include it here for those of you landing here from social media:

Dear Bat Friend,

Thank you for your kindness in taking the time to rescue the bat you brought to us; we are in awe of the people who have gone so far out of their daily routine to help an animal in trouble.

We hope that you found it a meaningful experience. It meant a great deal to the bat you rescued, and to us; you are part of an ever-growing group of people who care for an animal that many find, at best, unlovable.

Attempting to rescue a bat can seem frightening for people who encounter them, displaced or injured, around their homes or workplaces, and you may even have been ridiculed by those who don’t understand that bats are worthy of care. But you know how rewarding it can be to make the effort to help wildlife.

If it is possible for you to donate, we ask for your financial assistance so that we can continue to serve as a refuge for the injured and orphaned bats that are brought to us by caring people like you.

Your donation will help save the lives of many more little bats in trouble, like the one you saved.
Please Donate Here

And please become a part of our team by joining our Bat Pack!

austin bat Austin Bat Refuge eastern red bat  austin bat
austin bat free-tailed bat Congress Avenue Bridge   austin bat

Austin Bat Refuge cares for these bats in a setting that minimizes their stress and fear.  Once critical care has stabilized them, they recover in a natural outdoor setting prior to release.  If non-releasable, they live a high quality of life with us in the bat gardens or in spacious indoor habitats with plenty of enrichment. Our many visitors have hearts and minds changed by the experience of seeing bats as we care for them. And seeing them in a natural setting is an educational opportunity leveraged by our social media that serves to counter eons of negative myths about bats.

We have cared for close to 750 bats in recent years (139 so far this year), with the majority of them being released back into the wild. If they make it through the first few days, we have a success rate of approximately 86% (which includes those non-releasable individuals living out their lives in our refuge).

Your tax-deductible donation to Austin Bat Refuge will be deeply appreciated, and promptly acknowledged with a document for your tax deduction.  We are an all-volunteer, state-permitted 501(c)3 NON-PROFIT organization and receive no government funding.  Our costs (not counting volunteer time) can be under $20 for a healthy, quickly-released bat to $200 or more for a bat with a broken bone. Bats that live out their lives in our refuge incur ongoing costs to keep them healthy and well fed.

It is our privilege to care for these orphaned, injured and displaced bats, and your support will give us the ability to do more. Please give us and them a helping hand by mailing a check to our P.O. Box address or contributing to Austin Bat Refuge at this link: Donations

ANY DONATION AMOUNT IS APPRECIATED! And if you can’t give money, please consider donations of volunteer time or items on our Wish List

Thanks so much for caring about these noble, valiant, and amazing flying mammals.

And do please become a part of our team by joining our Bat Pack! 

You’ll get our ABR Newsletter with notices for our springtime Bat Walks!

Thanks so much,

Lee Di (3)

Lee Mackenzie
512-695-4116
leemack@austinbatrefuge.org

Dianne Odegard
512-799-8847
Dianne@austinbatrefuge.org

Austin Bat Refuge
https://austinbatrefuge.org

 

 

Posted on , updated on by The Refuge

Fall Migration Devil’s Sinkhole and Frio

Here we see what looks like the fall migration of Mexican free-tailed bats from Devil’s Sinkhole and Frio caves in Central Texas.
A 17 deg F drop in temp at dusk along with a 26 deg F drop in dew point seem to be the trigger.
We see them travel 100 miles SSW to the irrigated fields of Los Alamos, outside of Allende, Coahuila before they disperse.
They traveled about 116 miles in two hours, not the world speed record for mammals (99 mph) that the Frio bats hold, but not too shabby (58 mph).  They seem to be headed toward Cueva de la Virgen in Coahuila, a cave historically known to hold 350,000 Tadarida and 10,000 cave myotis.  We’d love to know if anyone is monitoring numbers at that cave and whether there is a big spike in numbers today and for how long.  If numbers surge there, will they stay all winter, or will numbers wane as they move further south?
Austin meteorological conditions at emergence are in a chart below the video.

fall-migration-devils-sinkhole-meterological-conditions

Posted on , updated on by The Refuge

French Public Radio visits Austin Bat Refuge

Here’s an insightful interview of Dianne Odegard, Co-Founder of Austin Bat Refuge, in her flight cage, conducted by the wonderful Cerise Marechaud, free-lance audio-journalist for French Public Radio, Swiss Public Radio, and many more.

Super interesting to hear Cerise interpreting Dianne’s commentary into French.
Follow Cerise on SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/cerisemarechaud

Here’s the version with Dianne in her flight cage.

And here’s the version of the interview conducted in June, embedded in a cool Swiss music program, which aired on Aug 29, 2016.
http://www.rts.ch/play/radio/detours/audio/des-chauve-souris-et-des-hommes?id=7940616

Posted on , updated on by The Refuge

Seabreeze & North Front

Great night for Central Texas bats as a strong seabreeze pushes moths toward the Hill Country while a North front brings reverse migrating moths back from the northland, making a smorgasborg for Mexican free-tailed bats fattening up for their own migration south at the end of the month.  This year’s pups are packing on the grams preparing for their first big journey.  Their is a lot going on in this video as the Hill Country roosts are perfectly situated to take full advantage of both fronts.

Here’s the Congress Avenue Bridge bats that same night going with the seabreeze to the NW, to feed on moths pushed along on the leading edge of the front.

Posted on , updated on by The Refuge

Rough night for bats

Storms after emergences at Bracken, Congress, and McNeil had bats scrambling for cover last night.
David Chapman took care of hundreds in a parking garage in San Antonio this morning.
He stopped a custodian from sweeping bats off the ceiling onto the driveway inside the garage.
Great job David!

rough night for bats

We got a call from Wilshire Homes in Pflugerville.
A bat took shelter in one of their homes under construction.
He apparently flew in an open garage door and went right in the house through the missing deadbolt lock on the door to the interior.

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Alejandro, the superintendent, got him in a container for us and we went and picked him up about 23 miles north of our location.

He was a juvenile male free-tailed bat and had a full belly and looked to be in great shape.  He drank water from a syringe and seemed bright eyed and full of life.  We showed him the deadbolt hole; wonder what he thought about that.

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Since he most likely came from the McNeil bridge colony, a mere 7 miles to the west, we decided to take him back there, rather than bring him all the way back to Austin and release him at a different roost at night.  I bet he was wondering how we knew where he lived; probably thought he got hacked by Russians!

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Well, he barely survived the episode.  Releasing during the day is always risky and this time was no exception.
He flew off the hand and instead of quickly entering a crevice, he flitted around under the bridge looking for just the right crevice.
Two different grackles took shots at him and very nearly got him, but he managed to evade them and finally enter a crevice above the support structure.


So glad you made it buddy!  We’ll wait till dark from now on, we promise!

Posted on , updated on by The Refuge