Rescued a bat...

[outdamnedspots]

Staying in a holiday house this week. Found a bat on the floor one evening. Alive. (Don't know where it came from.) Googled and found that they can't take off from the floor, so took it outside and hung it in a tree.

Checked on it. It was hanging there but making no effort to fly. Then it started to rain.

Brought bat inside in a box, gave it water and honey water. Plan to release it outside this eve.

But what if it doesn't go? I suppose we can ring the Bat Conservation Trust for advice.

Has anyone ever rescued a bat? Did it go well?

be careful of a)rabies and b)breaking the law. Ring Bat Conservation Trust for advice

Breaking the law? What law?

There's often a local bat group and bat carers who could come and get the bat to rehabilitate it. Agree you need to ring the bat conservation trust and be careful not to handle it any more so you don't get bitten.

PHOTOS!!!! Please

Please contact the BCT and they will put you in touch with a bat carer local to you that will help the bat.

Just normal water is fine until then.

Have been wearing gloves. It's ok to handle bat if there is no alternative.

They are a legally protected species, you are allowed to handle it if you need to help it though: www.bats.org.uk/advice/help-ive-found-a-bat/bats-in-need-of-rescue/assess-the-situation

I’ve had this twice. Both times I rang the BCT and they sent someone out. For now try and trap a tea towel or dishcloth in the box lid, hanging down from the inside of the box so it can cling to the cloth. Also put a milk bottle lid of water in there.

And I rang the bct as a cat had brought my bats in so needed to check it wasn’t injured. In your case there may be bats in the loft and it’s just come out the loft the wrong way. So you probably don’t need the bct but you could ring for advice.

if you do the cloth trick then once it’s dark enough you can open the box and it will be in the cloth and you can put the cloth in a tree.

We found a bat a few weeks back. We put it in a lunchbox and after five minutes it put its little head out the air gap and flew off. Local bat group would be my first port of call, I struggled to get through to BCT on a Sunday.

If it was managing to hang, maybe it was just in a deep sleep state. Can you put it back outside before dusk?

Done the cloth trick - thanks!

I've rung the BCT and the helpline isn't open today. Have messaged local bat group too.

Will wait till dusk and hope it's dry.

An update: the bat has gone! Went in to check on it and it was flying around the utility room. Opened the back door and it left! Hurrah. 🦇

Here's a pic...

Trying again...

Sorry! The app won't let me attach pics, for some reason.

Out of interest, how big are bats? I always imagined them to be huge but I've been told they are actually tiny

Is be scared if I found one but this story is so cute ❤️

They are all different sizes. The one we found was a pipistrelle. They are tiny: body about the size of a mouse! Here you are: www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/mammals/common-pipistrelle

O lovely - well done you!

pipistrelles and soprano pipistrelles can fit in a match box. The small type! When folded up and walking along a wall, you can easily mistake them for a big spider.

Pipistrelles are the absolute cutest. You just made the world better!

Bats can be anything from tiny mouse sized to giant huge bird sized.

I LOVE them. I was just in a cave with fruit bats and vampires bats and felt so honoured.

So glad this story had a happy ending, bats are amazing creatures and need our protection. Well done OP!

Bats sizes.