They got the help they so desperately needed ❤️
Earlier this month, after a series of powerful weather systems passed through Southwest Florida, a homeowner discovered that a large palm frond from a tree out front had come crashing down onto their lawn. But this wasn’t the average bit of storm debris.
When the homeowner went to lift the fallen branch, they saw hundreds of little eyes staring up that them.
Huddling beneath the frond, which had once been safely overhead in the tree, were over 150 baby bats.
https://volume.thedodo.com/embed/c0af69b8a?autoplay=false&loop=true&placement=article&player_type=chorus&tracking=article:lede&privacy_consent=allConservancy of Southwest Florida
“”[The homeowner] called the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida,” conservancy director of communications Reneé Stoll told The Dodo.
Rescuers were soon on the scene to help, placing all the helpless babies onto a blanket in a box.
One by one, rescuers examined the baby bats — 156 in all — to ensure they were healthy.
“Our goal was to return them to their parents as soon as possible, but first, a full exam needed to be done on each pup to check for injuries,” the conservancy wrote.
Sadly, 11 bats were too injured to survive their ordeal following the storm — but the remaining 145 were deemed fit for re-nesting.
Because they’re still reliant upon their parents to survive, time was of the essence.
https://volume.thedodo.com/embed/0d26140ed?autoplay=false&loop=true&placement=article&player_type=chorus&tracking=article:lede&privacy_consent=allConservancy of Southwest Florida
Rescuers sought advice from Bat World Sanctuary, which advised them to place the baby bats in a nesting box in a tree for their parents to find them.
And, with the help of Homegrown Tree Care, a box was installed in the very tree they’d fallen from.
Once the nest was installed, a drape was added to catch any baby bats who may fall from the box.
“They were able to be re-nested with the parents. Our staff went back every two days to make sure the bats were doing OK and continuing to feed,” Stoll said. “We are happy to report no bats fell into the drape or on the ground.”
According to rescuers, that meant “the parents were successfully taking care of the young bats.”
It had been a team effort — and thanks to work of those involved, dozens of precious lives were given the second chance they so desperately needed.
“The von Arx Wildlife Hospital receives more than 4,000 patients a year as the only wildlife hospital in our county. Staff would not be able to make a difference in the lives of so many animals if it wasn’t for other agencies, community members and our hundreds of volunteers who help make this work possible,” Stoll said, adding:
“I could not be prouder of the work our teams do day in and day out to protect our ecosystem and all of the native wildlife that call Southwest Florida home, including these amazing bats.”