Another first

As you know, I like bats and have taken care of a few over the years. This time it's an almost fledged Silver-haired Bat, a little girl. She was found on the ground in Riverton so was gathered up and taken to the WGF bat person in Lander. As I was picking up the Swainson's Hawk from the WGF I got this bat too. Not a very good photo, I'll try for better ones when I have some help. At the moment she's munching on a mealworm. Hopefully she'll be ready for release in a very short time.

UPDATE: This young bat died during the night so I will be sending the body to the state lab for rabies testing. It's just a precaution but better safe than sorry.

R.I.P. beautiful YODA

He's gone and I don't know why. This amazing Big Brown Bat baby came to me about six weeks ago and has been doing so well. He was even eating solid food (mealworms) and starting to fly in his little two-man net tent. He ate twice this morning but then suddenly stopped moving much and died just a few minutes ago.

I've only had two baby bats and both have brought such fun into my life, I'm just sorry I failed them. YODA was doing so well that the plan was to release him in a local gated cave where BBB colonize. I will miss him terribly.

Oh my what big teeth you have

YODA had his first jaunt in the flight tent I bought for him. He hasn't actually flown yet but did do some stretching exercises while hanging from the top. In this photo he's showing off his super dental work. He's now chomping mealworm pieces as well as nursing on his foam tip full of formula.

He looks ferocious but he loses some of the threat when you realize he's only about as long as my thumb.

My baby boy is growing up

YODA is now almost 30 days old and has come a long way since he first arrived here. He's so smart that when I start making up his formula he comes out from under his blankie and hooks his way to the side of the reptarium closest to where I'm working. Then when it's all ready he hooks his way back to the other side, three feet away, so I can pick him up for his meal.

With my deafness I can't hear his clicks or squeeks but he's now purring when I start to feed him. I don't know what his future holds but for now he's a joy to work around even tho I have to feed him four times a day every six hours. That means one feeding at midnight but the whole process doesn't take but a few minutes so I don't lose much sleep.

Six more mouths to feed

I got a call two days ago from a family in Douglas which is about a five hour drive from Cody. They had just bought a house was built in 1913 and had been empty for two years. When they went down to the basement they discovered a bunch of baby bats on the floor under the chimney opening.

Unfortunately the three story fall had been fatal for some but these six have survived for a week so far. The most amazing thing is that Sarah and Anthony have five children including four month old daughter, Olive, who is breast feeding. Instead of making up the bat food formula she just pumped her milk and fed that to them. They're were all still alive when I wrote this post.

As mentioned in a much earlier post, I did raise YODETTE until she suddenly died at five weeks old. Hopefully these babies will make it to be released.

UPDATE: I found two of the babies dead at their midnight feeding. Perhaps it was the change in diet, I'll never know, but the others seem to being doing just fine and getting the hang of sucking on a foam sponge for their milk.

And another ?????

I don't know what's going on with the bats around here but I just got two more in, both had been caught by cats. The top photo is of what is now called a Canyon Bat, aka. Western Pipistrelle. According to the books they are desert dwellers and aren't found any where near the state of WY. Of course I haven't found any animal who's read the books. He's also the smallest bat found in the US. As you can see, the quarter isn't that much smaller. Unfortunately he was very damaged and had to be euthanized.

The lower photo is one I just got today and is also damaged but may be repairable. I'm not sure the species yet, I've sent photos to my bat mentor at Bat World in TX. I'm awaiting her advice.

Big change

I found out today that HER name is YODETTE. That's right, my little bat baby is a female. And here's a photo of her emulating her elders. It's a t-shirt I got when vacationing in CA and stopped at the Richardson Grove State Park. Hopefully she's read all the advice and will take it to heart.

Growing bigger

Here's a photo of YODA taken today. He's been here two weeks and is, as close as can be determined, about three weeks old. He's still on formula, hopefully I'll be able to start adding cut up mealworms to his diet in the next couple of weeks.

It's very interesting having such a tiny bat in my care. I'm too deaf to hear his echo-locating squeeks but friends say he's quite vocal when I get him out to feed. At least he's down to one feeding during the night so I'm getting more sleep. He's also finally growing hair, his tummy has lots of blond coming in. More pictures as he continues growing.

Teeny baby

Here the baby is suckling on the foam tip of an eye makeup applicator. It's taken off the plastic handle, cut in half and soaked with the warm milk formula. Amazing!

Today I got a call from Murphy in Billings about a baby bat she found on the ground outside her apartment building. I have taken care of bats in the past altho most of them are adults or older young that are rescued from a dangerous roost. I put them in a safer place and walk away

This time the baby is only a few days old. I contacted the people at Bat World in TX for information in the care and feeding of one so young. $35 later I have all the supplies for making up the baby bat formula. I would assume this is a little brown bat, the most common one around here.

Hopefully this very teeny bat will survive and I'll be able to release him in a safe habitat. Thanks Murphy for driving all the way to help what some people would call ugly. He's handsome to me and all who love bats.