flight cage

26 West pup

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

austin bat rescue rehabilitation

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Late Last Night

Love the wing shape in this photo of an eastern red pup (17-79) brought to us by Adam Warren from Silver Dale in SW Austinbat rescue

Lots of action in the flight cage last night!austin bat rescue rehabilitation

This bat is curling up on a moth it just caught, rolling it into its tail membrane and kicking it to subdue and eat it.  All of this done while flying and scarcely missing a beat.

A closeup of that shot

Adam’s bat showing his chops

Pretty wing conformation on this tri-colored bat.

Here’s another bat curling up on a moth.  Lots of action under the blacklight!

This Barred Owl juvy was raised nearby and we’re trying to run him off.  Way easier said than done.

Finally got him to go, but grudgingly and he’ll probably be back before the night is through.  At least the pups will recognize a predator the next time they see one.  For many bat pups, the firs time they see an owl is the last time they see anything, so we’re glad ours get another chance.

In the morning, pups were scattered all over the place, this one right out in the open.  He is the first of Laurie’s pups to fly off on his own.  The mum flew off with the others still on her.  We found her and reunited them so they could snuggle through the day.

These pups are trying to look like just another dead leaf.

Here’s Laurie’s mum with her pups on her, but with Alvaro and Michelle trying to adopt her.  We got them all straightened out, reunited the family, fed and watered all for the day.  What a night!

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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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Godzilla & Mothra

northern yellow and velifer

Northern yellow bats are awesome creatures.  At 28.3 grams, she is three times the weight of the velifer in the upper right of the photo.  Check out those beautiful broad wings.   We’re so lucky to have them in Austin!  Let’s help them out by not trimming the skirt of dead fronds under the green crown of our palm trees.  They have evolved to blend in perfectly with that habitat.  They feel so secure there, that they are slow to awaken from torpor, and often plummet to the ground when the dead fronds are trimmed.

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