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!
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.
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!
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
This pup (D-Day) found himself on the wrong side of Congress Avenue Bridge on June 6th. Dianne, on her rebirth day, was called by a worried tourist and went down and belly crawled under the railing to rescue him. He probably crawled out of his crevice looking for a mum that got picked off by a predator. He was born a little early (average date of birth for free-tails is June 10th and he was likely born in late May) but lots of pups were 2-3 weeks early this year. We’ll do our best for this little guy and hopefully release him back at the bridge once he’s graduated from ABR Flight School!
Left to right: Evening bat male, red bat female, Seminole bat male
These pups should all still be with their mums and they know it. The bat milk replacer doesn’t taste the same and the mealworm guts are interesting, but not what they really want. They would normally be getting a taste of insects at this age by nuzzling their mum’s mouth, and they seem to need the supplemental nutrition with the milk replacers we use. Once they eat some guts, they end up with the worm in their mouths as a pacifier and pretty much just zone out. See video below:
Sometimes they tilt their heads back like a raccoon eating a grape!
“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
This evening bat pup was our first pup of the year, arriving as a one-week-old, found by Jordan Van Der Hayden in an ant bed, on 03May2017.
Three weeks later he is now flying confidently around the aviary, brimming with the joy of life!
Just a few days ago he was stretching his wings, doing pushups to gain strength, and we held him just far enough from his roosts to make him stretch to get back home. Holding him further away the next night caused him to spread those wings and flutter the 8 inches back. The next time we did it he surprised us by doubling back and flying a wobbly 55 feet to the opposite end of the cage! But last night he flew beautifully and for quite a long time.
Next he has to learn to drink on the wing from our pools and catch moths under the blacklight and then he can start his new life as a wild and free bat!
Everyone at Austin Bat Refuge is celebrating the arrival of baby bat season! Our intern Kyndal was welcomed into her second summer of baby bat rehabilitation training yesterday. Just as she got to work in the flight cage, a red bat pup waived a warm “hello” from beneath her protective mother. Look at that fragile little wing! Kyndal wasn’t sure if she was looking at a bat or a baby dragon…
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.
https://youtu.be/zgjVauqdjRI
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!
https://youtu.be/7kIw_wIhW6g