Fawn is a beautiful northern yellow yearling who is ready for release.  She came to us late last summer, and we over-wintered her because she simply did not seem ready for release until late fall, when food started to get scarce.  Now’s the time to get her weight up and shoot some video to help us remember her.  She has been so patient with us, trusting us to do the right thing for her and now is the time to reward that trust.

Studies have shown that the joy engendered by an event is not diminished by accompanying sadness, but that joy is actually increased by such sadness.  The resulting poignancy is an extremely powerful emotion and this is what accompanies each and every release of an orphaned bat pup. We worry about them in so many ways; will they find a roost, food, a mate? Will they evade predators long enough to reproduce?  Will they realize that not all humans will treat them with kindness?  Will they be successful without the benefit of their mothers to show them the way?

But we’re so happy for them to have that second chance!  The worst outcome for us is the always present possibility that they will die in our care, without experiencing the wild life they were born to live.  We want to make sure the cold weather is behind us and that insects are abundant once again, and then it will be time.  We can’t plan such an event, the timing is always a spur of the moment instinctual feeling that she’s ready, the weather is cooperating, the stars are aligned, and the bat gods are smiling upon her.

All the best dear one!  You have given us so much joy! Make lots of yellow bat babies!  Live a long, happy life!

northern yellow bat Fawn


Bats are back at Frio!  First flight since before Christmas!
We’ve been seeing at Fern & Stuart starting ten days ago, but they have been hunkering down during the last cold snap.
With the first few warm nights, they’ve moved back into Frio Cave.
Welcome back beauties!


The National Fish & Wildlife Foundation asked us to “represent” as they announced grants given for “Bats For the Future” at the Shell Campus in Houston’s Energy Corridor. Nothing like seeing live bats up close and personal.  Our “Bat Ambassadors” were the stars of the show!
Thanks NFWF!
bats for the future


This Mexican free-tailed girl was found, a few weeks back, at Penn Field by Sara Fern of iHeart Media
She was super dehydrated from being stuck in a building for many days and was super lucky Sara found her.

After two weeks of good food and smart water, she flew beautifully last night, and is ready for release!
She says “I Live Here, I Give Here”
Thanks for giving her a second chance Sara!

Mexican free-tailed bat AA

Save the date!


Greetings bat lovers,
This is my second foreign correspondence while I am doing research in Costa Rica (you can find my first blog post further back on this site). To refresh your memories, I am conducting acoustic surveys across Costa Rica using two Wildlife Acoustics SM4BAT Full-spectrum passive recorders to look into the impacts of land use on bat activity and species assemblage. My project is part of a larger NSF funded project led by Drs. Beck and Wasserman looking at the impacts of land-use on primates. My fellow interns are researching antibiotic resistance and hormone levels in primates (these guys get to follow monkeys around and collect fecal samples), water quality of streams entering/inside/leaving forest fragments, fig trees, air quality, and the social implications of eco-tourism. I am the bat lady. We arrived here January 2nd, and after about a week of gathering our equipment and setting up, we started data collection.
What have I learned in my first two weeks here?
1. The weather is the ruler of the quality of your data. Even though it is the ‘dry season’ here in the rainforest, it rains almost every day. Hopefully it will ease up soon because a lot of my recordings are static. Currently, we are at La Selva Biological Research Station. Fortunately, they have a list of over 70 confirmed bat species found in this reserve alone. I plan to compare the findings from the recordings to the list they have to see if we find anything interesting! I have not spent much time analyzing my data yet, as we spend most of our days in the field. While my data collects itself, I am a part of a team and I help the other members collect theirs.
2. Sleep and food are paramount. Field work is no joke and even though I work hard to get 8 hours of sleep a night, I always want more. Those of you comfy in your beds with no assigned time to wake up, I am jealous until mid-March. All of us have already lost weight and our pants are getting baggy even though we eat rice and beans almost every meal! I hope to be super fit by the time I get back to the US.
3. It is very important to get along with your teammates. We are going to be together for 10 weeks, every single day. I love my team and we are making amazing memories here in the jungle. I am excited to get to spend a few days off in Manuel Antonio, hanging out and laughing on the beach with a coconut in my hand! If we did not get along, this would be a very different experience.
4. I am very lucky to have such supportive friends, family, and colleagues. The constant encouragement from everyone makes being away from home very easy. That being said, this is a marathon, not a sprint! I have 8 weeks left and I know at some point all of us will need some TLC and a shoulder to cry on when we are just missing that comfort of home. But I love traveling and know I am fortunate to have such an amazing opportunity to conduct funded research in such a beautiful country on such awesome animals. We’ve done some really cool things: walked across Costa Rica’s second-longest bridge in Tirimbina, climbed a 46 meter high tower overlooking the forest canopy where I got to watch Howler monkeys and White-faced Capuchins flit through the trees just 50 feet away, gone on night hikes and seen Eyelash Vipers and Red-eyed tree frogs, and watched rivers double in depth overnight.
5. It’s all worth it for the bats! So far, I’ve seen Proboscis bats and Greater White-lined bats every day when I walk out of my cabin. I’m sure I will see more species as time goes on. But getting to see their little faces and watching them leave every night to feed is such a rewarding experience. Everyone I talk to is eager to learn all of the fun facts I can throw at them. Many people are surprised to find out not all bats are vampiric (actually less than 1% of the approximate 1200 species drink blood). Anything I can do to improve the understanding, empathy, and appreciation for these bats, I will!
In a couple of weeks the group and I will be leaving for Quepos/Manuel Antonio where we will be doing our research in the National Park and surrounding land. This is a neat tourist town where we will certainly encounter many people who may or may not be familiar with eco-tourism. While my research is going steadily and everyone I talk to is very, very interested in it, I have received disheartening news from the girl doing the social research. She is conducting surveys with as many people as she can, and she has found that many of her subjects have very negative views of bats. Hopefully I, you, and everyone who comes into contact with the Austin Bat Refuge can help change the stigma associated with bats over time to where they can be loved and appreciated for their insane evolutionary history, ecosystem services they provide, and their wonderful personalities.
As always, feel free to email me for any questions or comments (ahall6@stedwards.edu)
Tata for now

Wildlife Acoustics SM4BAT Full-spectrum passive recorders

My Gear – Wildlife Acoustics SM4BAT Full-spectrum passive recorders

Eyelash Viper

Eyelash Viper

 

Red-eyed tree frogs

Red-eyed tree frogs

Amy in the Canopy

Canopy Life


Lots of Central Texas bat activity on a chilly evening. Devil’s Sinkhole, Old Tunnel, and Huber really show up strongly because of their more isolated locations.  Still a strong flight from Congress, so our newly released bats have plenty of company.


This beautiful cave myotis (Myotis velifer) was hanging motionless in the same location for four days in the corner of Cait’s balcony. She was worried about him and was kind enough to contain him and have us check him out.  He turned out to be just fine! We fed and hydrated him for a few days and released him tonight. Thanks for caring Cait!

Austin bat presentations, education, outreach, talks, programs


These two girls were rescued from separate Houston apartment complexes back in June. They’ve been with us all summer and have just now recovered their strength.  The one on the left was not flying well just two weeks ago, but last week started sustaining flight and had the red “no-go” tag removed (actually red lip gloss on the ear). They’ll be so happy to be in the soft-release box; they can stay there until they find a great new home!

Austin bat presentations talks programs education outreach rescue rehabilitation evening bats

Austin bat presentations education talks programs outreach


Latest research shows that 3 out of 4 Mexican free-tailed bats found in Saver’s Thrift Store prefer the Halloween department over other parts of the store.  Even though bats have nothing to do with Halloween 😉 , they nonetheless provided holiday ambience as they hung decoratively up with the fake cobwebs up in the ceiling! The other was recovered from over the cash register area, so perhaps the last one was making sure they got paid for their advertising efforts!

They all were fine, just wondering why Savers keeps inviting them into the store and then freaking out about it. Humans!

Here are three of the four a few days later, ready to be released under Congress Avenue Bridge, as soon as F1 takes down the fences for their party at the bat-viewing area.
Austin bat presentations, talks, outreach, programs, education, Mexican free-tailed bat, Congress Avenue Bridge bats

While they were resting up for their release, an immature Texas rat snake curled up under the roof tarp to stay dry and bask.  He was within a few inches of one of the boys and would have had him for lunch but for the netting in between them. Watch out you valiant little bats!

Here’s the rat snake getting relocated a few miles down the creek.

Here they are finally getting released at Congress Avenue Bridge after their circuitous adventure!
Austin bat presentations, education, outreach, talks, programs, rescue, rehabilitation
Austin bat presentations, outreach, programs, education, talks


Great work Di! The first two talks were to veterinarians at the Convention Center, the last one for the Rotary Club on their riverboat cruise.  The boat cruise was really great! The city looked beautiful at night and the bats were translucent in the bridge lights!

Austin bat presentations. talks, programs, education, outreach

Austin bat presentations, talks, education, programs, outreach

Austin bat presentations, talks, outreach, programs, education

Austin bat presentation, talks, outreach, education, programs