Bat Family In Rehab

A “family” of three bats recently arrived at our Wildlife Education & Rehabilitation Program. A mom and two baby Eastern Pipistrelle bats were found down on the ground in Bay Village.

These bats rarely are found in buildings and prefer roosting in trees. In the winter they often hibernate in caves, mines and rock crevices. Nursing bat pups will cling to their mothers until they are too big to carry. (In the photo above, you can see the baby clinging to the mother in the gloved hand of Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist, Amy LeMonds.)

In spite of the Halloween fiction surrounding them, bats are not aggressive and in fact, quite beneficial to have around. A single bat can catch more than 1,000 mosquitoes in just one hour! Populations of Eastern Pipistrelles are said to be stable in the United States, but these bats are highly susceptible to pesticide poisoning and habitat destruction.
Surprising "Bat Facts" from the US Humane Society & other sources:

• Bats are the only mammals capable of flight.


• Bats may resemble rodents, but scientists believe they are more closely related to primates.


• The world's smallest bat, the bumblebee bat, weighs less than a penny. One of the world's largest bats, Lyle's flying fox, has a wingspan of nearly six feet.


• North America's common little brown bat has the longest lifespan for a mammal of its size, sometimes living more than 32 years.


• Bats have been known to “adopt” orphan bats.