So...I've got this bat.

MrBishop

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
Captured a bat from the church...it's sleeping now in a basket next to me. Poor little guy :(

I'll probably be letting him go tonight, but I thought that I might want to make him a permanent visitor to my neighbourhood. They eat about 1000 mosquitos a night, and with West Nile around...that's a very Good thing.

Any ideas? I don't have the itme to build a bat-house today, and I can't see myself keeping him in a box until I do.

Ideas?
 
MrBishop said:
Captured a bat from the church...it's sleeping now in a basket next to me. Poor little guy :(

I'll probably be letting him go tonight, but I thought that I might want to make him a permanent visitor to my neighbourhood. They eat about 1000 mosquitos a night, and with West Nile around...that's a very Good thing.

Any ideas? I don't have the itme to build a bat-house today, and I can't see myself keeping him in a box until I do.

Ideas?
Click to expand...

"Captured?"

Bish!!!!

Thats a tad cruel isn't it? Poor bat (incidentally what kind? Horseshoe? Pipistrelle?) minding its own business doing batty things in the church yard suddenly captured!!

I don't know about encouraging bats.. other than building a batbox... but I'm actually unsure if you should be "keeping" him anyway... its all rather cruel.
 
Temporary housing

1. A large margarine or ice-cream container, or a shoe-box is useful in an emergency. Line the container with kitchen paper, or soft cloth, for the bat to hang on to. Make sure there are adequate air-holes.
2. Keep the bat in a warm place, where it can use all its energy for recovery. A dark airing cupboard is ideal.
3. Handle the bat as little as possible initially, and keep it somewhere quiet. Do not expose to extremes of temperature, nor movement which may exacerbate its condition.
Click to expand...

http://www.bats.org.uk/batinfo/careofbats.htm
 
Bats are definately handy to have around. Not only for the mosquito-eating but also I hear bat ... poo is very beneficial in many ways - especially as fertilizer.
 
Claire - It wasn't in the yard..but the church proper itself. It was sleeping (or so I thought) at the base of the low altar. I picked him up gently...avoiding those teeth and placed him in a basket with a cover. Had him in my office to take home and release there. He didn't make it. :(

I'm guesing that the reason that he was at the base of the altar was either sickness or injury. Shame really...bats are very nice.

Looks like it was a Pipestrelle.
_38167136_bat300.jpg
 
MrBishop said:
Claire - It wasn't in the yard..but the church proper itself. It was sleeping (or so I thought) at the base of the low altar. I picked him up gently...avoiding those teeth and placed him in a basket with a cover. Had him in my office to take home and release there. He didn't make it. :(

I'm guesing that the reason that he was at the base of the altar was either sickness or injury. Shame really...bats are very nice.

Looks like it was a Pipestrelle.
_38167136_bat300.jpg
Click to expand...

Oh... Oooops! Well if was in the church... then probably best you moved him lest some over zealous alter/choir boy would probably trample him anyway...

Yeah... he/she was probably ill to start with...

RIP Mr Pipestrelle... :kiss:
 
Out here bats carry rabies ,its not only their bite ,but their saliva that transmits the disease I really hate to say this but you might need to get it check otherwise you must go through the series of rabies shots yourself needlessly.
 
A.B.Normal said:
Out here bats carry rabies ,its not only their bite ,but their saliva that transmits the disease I really hate to say this but you might need to get it check otherwise you must go through the series of rabies shots yourself needlessly.
Click to expand...

I didn't touch him with my hands, just a bag and a box. Should be just fine, but I'll letcha know if I start feeling hydrophobic.
 
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