On the weekend, I rescued this little bat lady from drowning and cared for her until I found someone with experience caring for bats. I had never been able to observe a living bat so closely before. I gave her lukewarm water with a small brush, and after a while she even started eating fresh moths. The vet gave her an infusion, and for a while it looked as though she was going to make it. But then the vet discovered tiny puncture wounds on her belly from a bird's claws. They had perforated her intestines, so she sadly had to be put to sleep. It seems to be quite common for bats to be attacked by birds while they are drinking.
Rest in peace little friend.
☙
3 comments:
Poor little thing. Your care and kindness made a difference to her in her final days though. I wouldn't have thought birds would attack bats, many animals seem to be happy to ignore each other in the wild and I thought it would be the same with birds and bats.
Yes, it was new for me as well. It also happened in the afternoon, so the bat was outside quite early. It might have had something to do with the heat. I read that when it gets very hot, they sometimes have to leave their resting places. It's really sad, but it was really nice to be able to look at her so closely. They are very interesting creatures and very helpful for nature. Sending much love!
I've not seen one up close either. There are bats near us, they follow the treeline at the bottom of the garden as it's sort of a wildlife corridor. The best place to see them is one of the man-made lakes built to feed the city's canal network. I must get down there at dusk this autumn, it's amazing seeing them dance and swoop as they hunt. There are lots of bat boxes in the woods next to the lake, it's a fantastic place. Heat stress is tough on all of us, I hope the rest of the colony local to you is holding up okay. When I was watering the other day I noticed wasps gathering around the tap as I filled my can. They were drinking the drips!
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