Dear friends,
It’s been a while since we last shared an update. We apologize for the radio silence—pup season has a way of doing that. Our flight cage is filled with young adult bats of many species, with their antics providing some much needed distraction during these challenging times. We sincerely hope that you and yours are finding some opportunities for joy as well.
As you’ve probably heard, bats are being blamed for COVID-19. We have a lot of thoughts on the matter (which you can read on our website), but it boils down to the fact that bats did not cause this disease and are not spreading it. And bats are not "special reservoirs" for viruses. A recent study found that "the proportion of viruses that affect humans varies minimally across taxanomic orders" (such as carnivores, ungulates, rodents, primates, and bats).
Thankfully, the pandemic does not seem to have decreased Austinites’ willingness to help bats in need. We expect to take in more than 350 bats this year and, as of September 4th, have already received 244 individuals of ten different species. We average about one intake each day, and we have approximately 150 bats in care at the moment, including our permanent residents.
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This increase in bat rescues has been met with a few challenges stemming from response to the pandemic. We sent our 20 volunteers home in mid-March to minimize human contact with us, as well as with the bats, as per Texas Parks and Wildlife Department guidelines. The few people who come in contact with bats at the refuge have their temperature checked on arrival, wear gloves and a mask, and sanitize their gloves between handling each bat.
We have only recently been given permission from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to release bats back into the wild. That means bats are staying with us longer than usual—which is great because we love their company! But that also means we are spending more on food and medicine. But we have just now received some much-needed rain and with the new water on the landscape and additional insect prey hatching, it’s finally time for this year’s pups to go back to the wild!
Some will stay with us a little longer yet, while they learn to be successful wild bats. Like the pallid bats! We can only imagine what our local rescues think of these bats from west Texas — those huge ears...that pig nose...that appetite for scorpions. You can meet our pallid boys, Bo and BD, on social media. And while your there, please give us a like and a follow!
That’s about all the time we have for an update. If you can help us in this time of need, we’d of course appreciate it; but more importantly, please stay safe and healthy so you can watch the awe-inspiring emergence from the Congress Ave Bridge with us sometime in the future.
And stay tuned for release videos on social media and in the next newsletter!
Your fellow bat lovers,
Dianne and Lee
Co-founders of Austin Bat Refuge
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