Bat Full Of SurprisesEarly in May, we received a female Big Brown Bat. She had been hanging in an inconvenient place outside an Aurora gentleman's home. We really had little history, it was in the middle of the heavy rain and the homeowner was unwilling to let her stay. So, we had little choice but to offer her a haven. Early June, when the weather cleared and the heat set her, we flew her daily to prepare her for release. We then received many orphaned animals and stopped flying her as she flew very well. Once the day had arrived to release her , we went to move her from her large cooler to a small, transport carrier. We could see the faint rise under her pillow case and knew right where she was. When we go to pick bats up we try to keep them in the cloth, this helps to relieve their stress, they feel protected and hidden. But when we tried to scoop her up, the cloth moved about two inches high. We were sure she was in our hands, under the cloth. We could feel her. We assumed we were wrong and tried a couple of inches up. We made sure we had her. But the cloth was moving a couple of inches down.....We were totally confused and frustrated. Wanting to be sure of her locality, we lifted the cloth. Lo and behold.....two bats. Our first thought was, "How did another bat get in here?". Then the obvious dawned on us, it was a baby bat. Our female had given birth and become a mother. This must have happened right after we last flew her or the baby was attached to her breast and was along for the ride. We will never know for sure. Having a bat family complicates things a little. If we released the baby and mom now, mom might abandoned it. It was doubtful but a possibility. So, they will have to stay until the baby is weaned. They eat and fly at three weeks old. We have a large outside bat house and will move them to it in the next few days. It will afford mom the opportunity to teach her little one how to fly and catch bugs. Then they will be released together in a few weeks. |