Bat House Forum

[Bat21]

There has been little Browns roosting in my house for the last three years, they have recently disappeared, but that is the subject of my other post.

three weeks ago I found a pup in my plastic/tin can recycling container, the poor guy was wet and probably covered in old soda, and dirt. I would guess it was about 1/2 to 2/3 the size of an average adult. I felt It needed help, I put on the leather gloves, let the bat scamper onto my finger and I placed him on the brick chimney wall.  That little bat was smart! It tried very hard to climb straight up towards the  entry hole, however the hole is 18 feet above the ground and the bat seemed weak. I thought maybe It had a chance to slowly climb back up, so I walked away, hid behind a car and watched. The little guy tried to keep climbing up but lost its grip and fell to the ground. 

At that point I decided to get serious, the bat was getting beat up pretty bad and surely needed to get back to its roost right away. I set up my ladder next to the roost entry and placed the pup into a 6 inch section of plastic pipe. I climbed up to the hole and placed the pipe right up to the hole.

The little guy sure remembered home sweet home! It scampered very quickly right into that hole and disappeared into the darkness and hopefully the waiting arms(wings) of momma.

Moral of the story....Don't leave open containers near the bottom of a roost.

and don't handle wild bats either...Its OK for me, I'm an idiot.

[Terry Lobdell]

I have recently been corresponding with a local bat rehabber. When fallen pups are weak like that it may be best to contact a bat rehabber. They can't go long without feeding and quickly become dehydrated. Licensed rehabbers are equipped to rehydrate them. I was told that most bats that make their way into living areas or are found on the ground this time of year are pups. They get onto trouble because they are still inexperienced at flying.

Thank you for helping that little guy out.........hopefully he found his mother!