The Bat Diaries

Day 1- March 20th 2012

Today I was walking home from school when out of the corner of my eye, I saw something fall from the tree. At first I thought "Oh, it's just a sparrow". When I turned and got a careful look, I realized that it was a bat.

My friend who was walking with me proceeded forward, not even noticing, but I had to stop. "It's a bat!" I said, ecstatically. She came over to look on with me. I couldn't leave it there helpless. "I'm going to save it." I told her, attempting to pick it up. Now, I realize the risk that would normally pose, but the thing was practically helpless and I wasn't about to let the thing die in the hot sun. Luckily, I had a glove in my backpack from winter. But picking up the thing was easier said than done. He struggled, and as a result, so did I.

At first I tried catching him in a hat, but that didn't work so well. That's when I realized I had a bag I could put him in. It was an empty book bag that had enough room for him to move around a little. After some fussing around, I finally got the bat into the bag and I closed the top.

I called my mom on the way home to tell her what just happened, hoping to God she would understand the situation. Albeit stunned, she was very complacent and agreed to helping me. When I got home, I let the bat out of the bag and into the lawn. Both of his wings were (and still are) torn for some reason that I'm not aware of. Because of this, he couldn't fly away.

Even if he couldn't fly, he could still crawl. To prevent him from escaping, we put him in an old hamster cage where he could climb the walls freely. He was not happy at first, but eventually settled down.

After calling the rescue and rehabilitation clinic several times, I finally got a call back. When I explained the situation, they simply said because the bat's wings were injured, there was nothing I could do. The rescue expert advised that we take the bat somewhere to be humanely euthanized. I quickly hung up and delivered the news to my mom, my sister, and my step-dad. There was a silence while everyone processed the situation. The thought of having the bat put to death overwhelmed me, and I began crying. Then to my surprise, my mom asked "So what do you want to do?"

Naturally, I was confused. I thought our only option was to bring the bat to a clinic to get euthanized, but here my mother was giving me a choice. "I don't want to make everyone else have to deal with the bat just because I'm emotional about its death." I told them. I had imagined that we would give up the bat and be done, but that was not the outcome.

Thanks to my tears, my mom was motivated to support the life of the bat. All of us somehow believed there was some hope.

Now, because of that, I am currently caring for an injured bat, about 2.5 inches in length at the most. He is definitely a boy, I can say that much! I have no experience in caring for bats, but upon further research, I've discovered that a bat's wings can heal on their own. The membrane can grow back even without the use of glue and stitches (which is what animal doctors normally use). All he needs is some TLC, and that's one thing that I've definitely got!

I had hoped that he was a fruit bat, but he is actually a Little Brown Bat, so he eats multiple types of insects. Of course it is too difficult to go out and catch 50+ bugs from my yard, so we went to two different pet stores to get him crickets and meal-worms. At first he wasn't eating, but as he became more active during the night, he worked up quite the appetite.

I have been feeding him the insects with a pair of tweezers, and I've also given him water through a straw (a complicated process that I'm not willing to explain because I'm tired).

He continues to live in the hamster cage (which obviously no longer contains a hamster) and he is doing well! He is doing as bats do, and is hanging from the bars of the cage (on account he can still climb very well).

I am very hopeful for this bat, and I am expecting him to make a great recovery! But it will take many weeks, and a lot of responsibility on my part. And I figured since I'd be putting so much effort into making the bat better, I might as well have a name for him. But alas, I cannot decide on a name that is worthy of such a magnificent creature. Needless to say, bats are cool!

Anyways, I have started The Bat Diaries in order for me to publicly journal my adventures with the bat. By the way, if anyone has creative names for the bat, leave them in the comment box! I'd love to hear that people are supporting me in my effort to save the bat too! I have faith that he will pull through, and once he has fully recovered, I hope to release him so he can lead a great life.

And this concludes Day 1 of my adventure! Thanks for reading!