Nana Nana Nana Nana, Nana Nana Nana Nana . . . BAT MAN!!!!!!

[jpskewedthrone]

So this morning on the way out the door to go to the flea market, we hit the street and in front of the truck on the pavement in the road . . . is a bat. I go, "Oh, look, a dead bat," voice sad. My partner asks if it's really dead. I say, "I think so," and nudge it with my foot.

It's not dead. It makes as if to bite my foot and spreads its wings wide, although it doesn't really move. It's obviously either hurt or just stunned or something.

Now all concerned that it will get squished in the road by passing cars, my partner and I proceed to rescue the bat by using a broom to get it up onto a shovel so that we can move it to safety. It doesn't like this much, making those screeching noises, wings spread, mouth open, but we got it into the plants on the sidewalk at the base of a tree. We then went off to the flea market. When we got back, it had climbed into the tree and was huddled upside down near the base, sort of covered by all of the plants there. Here's a pic. We'll see what happens to it, I guess. Not much else we can do.





(This is the butt shot of the bat, because he's too close to the ground for me to get the head shot.)

Comments

[keireland.livejournal.com]

Bats aren't usually docile or on the ground. It's probably sick and dying, sad to say.

[threeoutside.livejournal.com]

There's some kind of virulent bat plague going around that's killing off thousands of them, many colonies have already been lost. If you feel so moved, you might call the Mammalogy Dept/ of the university closest to you and report it to whoever there is studying bats these days. Might be a useful data point, who knows?

[clarentine]

White nose disease, I think it's called. Of course, as someone below says, it's also entirely likely the bat's rabid. Were it a bat I'd seen (and yeah, I'd have gotten it up out of the street, too), I'd call my animal control officer.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

I agree with Chris. A bat on the ground, especially one that tries to bite humans, is likely rabid.

Call animal control. You and your partner are smart enough not to touch it, but if a kid or someone who thinks bats are just cute wanders by, they might get bitten. That would be seriously ungood.

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

My sister-in-law the vet would be hitting me on the head with a clue stick if I didn't agree with this advice as well.

[naomikritzer]

Be careful. Around here a sick bat is often a rabid bat.

[dawnmipb.livejournal.com]

Agreed: in Idaho (where I used to live and will return in the spring), the only known reservoir for rabies is in bats. (http://www2.state.id.us/phd7/HPPS/Surveillance/Rabies%20Main.htm)

The CDC's info on bats and rabies. (http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats.html)

[jennawaterford.livejournal.com]

I love bats. I think you should call it Stellaluna. Still, very sad that it's probably on its way out of this world. Very kind of you to move it to where it can pass in peace -- or recover if that's possible.

[scbutler.livejournal.com]

What everyone else already said.

[arhyalon.livejournal.com]

Cool. Good for you. I love bats.

I was amused by your butt shot comment. A friend who lived in Africa with the state department complained that every picture he and his friends had taken of large wild animals was from the back. They joked about publishing a book of their photes and calling it: Butts of Africa.

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

White nose fungus, yes. I'm afraid the bat is not doing very well. Though I have on occasion rescued bats who were crawling around during the daytime and they have recovered. Hopefully, the poor little dude was just disoriented, and will flutter away tonight.

[nerinedorman.livejournal.com]

The poor little dude. I have a soft spot for bats, even if I did once have one stuck in my hair (for real). We get the cute little Cape serotine bats:
http://www.redorbit.com/modules/reflib/article_images/42_8101a0fde9ed1f7520604dcd0fc3db7e.jpg

[spacedlaw.livejournal.com]

My hero!

[roseaponi.livejournal.com]

I once rescued a bat from a swimming pool - it stuck to the pool net like velcro. I thought I'd never get it back off. You're smart not to touch it with your hands. I've heard that their teeth are so sharp you can't feel their bite.

Also, my mom just evicted a colony from her attic. I tried to get her to put up bat houses where they could be allowed to live, but after getting scared half to death by the mass of them (about 30) under the eaves, she wasn't feeling too neighborly :(

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Bats are protected species in the UK. You're not allowed to touch them unless they are 'in extremis'. We found a pipistrelle in the back yard last year, still alive but very subdued. Handling it carefully with gloves, we put it carefully in a shady box turned on its side, i.e. easy to crawl out of) with easily accessible water then placed it up on an outside window ledge. It would eaither fly by itself at dusk or not.

Sadly it didn't, but we gave it a chance and at least made sure the neighbour's cats didn't get it.

We have at least one colony of bats nearby - they fly down the row of houses at dusk and you can see then flitting against the darkening sky. Lovely little things.