A small bat spread its wings and soared out into the 麻豆精选 night sky after being rehabilitated by the Interior Wildlife Society.
The adult silver-haired bat spent nine weeks healing after being found on the ground with a broken forearm bone.
A good Samaritan found the wounded critter on the ground after it had fallen out of a tree that had been cut down. The rescuer brought the silver-haired bat to one of the Interior Wildlife Association鈥檚 partner veterinarian clinics.
A miniature splint was secured to the wing of the bat to help protect the broken bone during healing.
The little bat was then transferred to the Interior Wildlife Rehabilitation facility in Summerland where it was cared for alongside another silver-haired bat who had been caught in a glue trap that was intended for rodents.
The Wildlife Rehabilitation Society is a non-profit organization that relies on the generosity of vets and the community to help injured animals.
Both bats were treated for dehydration and starvation. Their fat stores had diminished while struggling on the ground 鈥� with a broken arm and stuck in a glue trap 鈥� and unable to hunt insects.
At the rehabilitation facility, the bats will eat up to 20 juicy mealworms in one sitting. Sometimes, the little bats would fall asleep during their mealworm binge-fest, said Eva Hartmann, the founder of the Interior Wildlife Rehabilitation Society. She said that in the wild bats can eat hundreds of insects in a night of hunting.
Both bats have put on weight and regained their strength and are able to rejoin their families in the wild.
The bat with a broken arm was released into the moonlight in the same 麻豆精选 park where it was found, on Oct. 6.
If you find a bat that appears to be in distress, is grounded or injured contact a licensed local wildlife rehabilitation centre or a bat biologist. It is illegal to keep a bat without a license.
The BC Wildlife Park and Interior Wildlife Rehabilitation Society are organizations that are licensed to care for bats.
To report a wildlife emergency call the Government of BC wildlife hotline at 1(877)952-7277. For general wildlife inquiries contact the BC SPCA at 1(855)622-7722.
For more information on bats in the Okanagan, visit the Bat Education and Ecological Protection Society (BEEPS). The society hosts bat counting nights, information sessions and community events. You can even 鈥榓dopt鈥� a bat to help colonies thrive in the Okanagan.
For more information on how to report bat colonies contact BEEPS at (250) 767 2143 or by email at programs@beepspeachland.com.
