Eating practice
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!
rescue
Southern Yellow breakfast at The Refuge
It took forever to find this guy tucked against the ridge pole against the bright sky.
Glad we found you pup!
Friday Night Flights
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!
What a great mum!
This is an eastern red bat mum that has four nursing pups. (Yes, it’s the bat you brought us Laurie, we found another pup tucked under her wing!) She flies very well, as do two of her pups, the other two are not yet volant, but they all find each other the next morning. She is doing a great job raising these pups and we’re happy to help her get over that little glitch that found her grounded.
Eastern reds have four nipples. Both nipples on her left side are visible in this photo and it’s apparent that the lower one is offset, to the outside, from the midline of her chest. That offset allows all four pups to fit symmetrically so that all can nurse without overlapping. Overlapping would cause more jostling for position, attracting attention from predators, and so has been evolutionarily eliminated.
Southern yellow
Our 100th intake of the year is this beautiful southern yellow pup!
We distinguish southerns by their mossy, wooly, olive colored fur.
Northerns are more “Baby Huey” like, with shorter, yellowish fur.
This pup has just started eating whole mealworms.
He’s also stretching his wings and doing pushups.
He’ll be flying soon!
39 intakes 2 weeks!
We just took in our 103rd bat of the year, 39 of which came to us in the last 2 weeks.
June is always crazy around here and this year is no exception.
We’ve had bats of seven species this month; northern yellows, southern yellows, Seminoles, eastern reds, free-tails, velifers, and evening bats.
It’s crazy, exhausting, and exhilarating work. But what a priviledge and an honor to be able to give these pups a second chance at life.
Seminole skimmer swimmer
This pup was saved from a swimming pool skimmer by Jerry early Sunday morning.
He’s a juvenile Seminole bat, and was likely attempting to drink on his own for the first time when he crashed in the pool. Once in the water he could not escape, even though Jerry had a ramp for trapped wildlife. So please be like Jerry and have ramps, leave floaties in the water, and check those skimmers every morning. Give little beauties like Groot here a second chance!
https://www.amazon.com/Swimline-70200SL-FrogLog-Critter-Saving/dp/B004UHY2TY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497360924&sr=8-1&keywords=frog+log+critter+escape+ramp
Dripping reds
This red bat family was found grounded in the middle of a side-street in Dripping Springs. The young single-mum was a pup herself just last summer and she may have been struggling to feed and manage her young family. She was emaciated, and was so lucky that Jacque spotted her before the grackles or bluejays did. Nice save Jacque! She and the pups have been rehydrated and their bellies filled and are now having a snooze at the top of the aviary. She knows she and her pups are safe for now.
That night the mum flew and the pups watched her for a while, then the bigger pup joined her. The little pup felt pretty lonesome and after a while took her very first flight. Both pups negotiated all the other flying bats and landed successfully at the top of the cage. By morning they had found mum and the whole family was snoozing together once it got light.
Littlest pup after first flight!
Older pup
Pups have to watch out for the other flyers
Waiting for mum to return
The next morning mum roosted in the sun, we had to shade them
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
Our first red bat pups of 2017!
Here we go! First red bat pups of the year!
The official (and earliest ever) start of our busiest season.
Three weeks earlier than 2016; one week earlier than 2015; two and a half weeks earlier than 2014.
This red bat mum was rescued by Selma and although one of her wings is pretty torn up, the pups seem to be doing fine. Great save Selma!
Here’s the best look we could get without disturbing her.
She’s been hanging by one foot and has her pups clenched to her breast with her tails wrapped around them.
Classic red bat pose!