This eastern red pup is one of the four pups that Laurie rescued. He was found with his mum on the ground near their house. They would all have died without her taking time from her busy day to care for this family in need. Thanks so much Laurie!
Here one of the boys catches a moth in his tail membrane. They are growing up and going from little fluff balls to bad-ass bug killing predators.
The Lasiurine bats, including this eastern red bat female, use their furry tail as a blanket, poncho, and cloaking device to keep warm, dry, and hidden while they hang from the foliage. The foot is just big enough to wrap around the stem of a leaf, and they’ll tuck under leaves to keep cool and hide from birds. They hide their wings and head as they curl up into that long tail, and, hanging from one foot, look like nothing more than a fuzzy ball on a stem, a dead leaf, or a pinecone.
As such, they are bat buds, sleeping all day then blooming at dark to transform into voracious predators of night flying insects.
This beauty is a juvenile, almost full-sized, soon to be released into the wild. We know her from her white mark on the ear, designating her as our 99th intake this year back on June 23rd. We’ve taken in 35 more in the last few weeks, making designing unique marks a challenge!
A lovely Cave myotis (Myotis velifer) – soon to be released!
These Eastern red bat pups find their mum each morning, even though only two are still nursing. Orphan Michelle on top right has adopted the family!
In the wild, when pups start wrestling , as pups will, birds (especially grackles and bluejays) take notice and attack them. The mum is forced to fly off with all those heavy pups clinging to her. People find the exhausted mum and her pups in a ball and bring them to us. We give the pups a chance grow into self-sufficient young adults, hunting and drinking on the wing, before release, usually with a few weeks. What a privilege to get to share a bond with these amazing creatures, before they resume their wild and free lives!
Love this link from Bat Conservation Trust about How to Contain a Bat.
But here in Central Texas, call our Austin Bat Refuge Hotline at 512-695-4116 or 512-799-8847
http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/containingabat.html
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!
One of our local species, the tri-colored bat is one of the smallest bats in North America. They are amazingly agile in the air and this one has no trouble beating the larger bats to the flying insects in the aviary.
It took forever to find this guy tucked against the ridge pole against the bright sky.
Glad we found you pup!
Sweet, early (8:33 pm) emergence at Congress Avenue Bridge last night.
Come visit us at the Austin Bat Refuge table on Friday nights this summer!
This evening bat pup had been hanging low on a wall for a day and a half over in West Campus UT. He was brought to us to make sure he’s OK and we marked his ear with some yellow eyeshadow . He is only half the size of an adult, but foraging on his own and here we see him practicing his drinking skills. He made around ten passes over the drinking pond, slowly calibrating his approach, getting closer and closer each time and eventually getting two or three gulps of water.
We’ll give him about a week of practice, then set him on his way in a more wooded area where he’ll find an evening bat roost in a hollow tree. He found the other evening bats in our bat box easily enough, so we’re sure he’ll do the same in the wild.
What a cool little bat! Thanks to Rachel Ellerd and Carin Peterson of UT Animal Make-Safe
