Congress Avenue Bridge

Free-tail release

This bat had fallen into a back-porch bucket during all the rains last week.  She managed to tread water ’till morning, when Matt & Christina found her and rescued her.  We made sure her thumb claws were not damaged (luckily it was a plastic bucket), and then brought her out to the flight cage to make sure she could sustain flight.  We tried a non-toxic tempura paint to ID her (it’s messy if they struggle and swat the paint brush) and you can still see a hint of red on her left ear as she is released back into the wild.  Good bat, nice knowing you!

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Elise’s pup

Elise found this pup on her doormat back of 18 July 2016 and, being the kind-hearted person she is, took the time to carefully contain the pup in a box (without touching it!) and call us.  He was a very young juvenile who seemed to have let go of his bridge roost before he was quite ready.  After weeks of blended mealworm dinners he was finally doing the wing stretches and one-arm pushups that let us know he’s ready to try again.  So last night we brought him out to the aviary and after just a little encouragement, he took off and flutter-puttered all around the cage till we lost track of him in the darkness.
It’s really surprising just how slow the pups are when they first take flight.  They have a puppy-like appearance with their little ears sticking straight up and a slightly alarmed expression on their faces.  It’s so great to see them slowly gain confidence and soon start to shred the enclosure!
Thanks Elise!  You’re simple act of kindness meant a lot to us, but it meant the world to this pup.

mexican free-tailed bat pup

Elise’s pup

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4th of July fireworks – Annual spooking of the bats

For the Congress Avenue Bridge bats, the scariest time of year is 4th of July, when the annual fireworks display takes place just a few hundred yards to the east of the bridge.  The bats are emerging at dark this time of year, exactly at the time the fireworks start.  The emergence peaks around 9:30 pm this time of year, just when the fireworks are reaching their crescendo, seen in yellow on the left.
We normally see greatly reduced emergences for a number of days after the 4th.

4th of July 2016

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USFWS petitioned for listing of Tri-colored bat

The Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife petitioned the US Fish & Wildlife Service this week to list the Tri-colored bat as endangered.  This petition recognizes the impact of WNS spreading into the Southeast and Midwestern US.

TricoloredBatPetition_06-14-2016

 

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The Face

Hours old new-born Mexican free-tailed bat pup.

The face that gets hundreds of millions of Central Texas mums out of the roost each evening to go to work in the agricultural fields.

Check out that cute little nursing nose; like all mammals, makes it easier to nurse and makes the pups even more irresistable.

newborn Tabr use this one

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This year’s first 3 evening bat pups

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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.

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