# Found a bat on road! Help!



## carolgavin (May 9, 2005)

My son found a wee bat on the road near us and did what most teenagers do and brought the flipping thing home..................as you do. But what to do with it???? It is a wee tiny brown thing, it is alive but duno why it was on the road and in daylight! Son brought it home on a leaf of all things. It is now on the leaf under a bush, oops spoke too soon it is now clinging to the wall of my house. Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!!!


----------



## 107088 (Sep 18, 2007)

leave it alone, just watch for cats etc.
it'll be fine and will fly off tonight


----------



## baldybazza (Feb 21, 2007)

Carol google injured bats and you will find the tiggywinkle site that tells you what to do. 

Jan


----------



## lindyloot (May 20, 2007)

Hi Carol, as you know bats are a protected species I would be inclined to try and find the local person who has responsibility for bats via the vets or RSPCA ooops sorry I forgot you are in Scotland or if you now of a local naturalist perhaps they may know what to do. Sorry I can't be of more help 
Lin


----------



## 105023 (Jun 7, 2007)

*Your bat(ty)*

Carol,
Bats are are protected species and you need to have a special licence to even just hold them. 
You are best calling 03000 999 999 which is the Scottish SPCA - they'll advise and maybe send an inspector or the like to collect the beastie (and I don't mean Gav or Christopher 8O )

Ginge


----------



## jemshome (Nov 10, 2007)

Carol

You need to take care - as you are probably aware some bats can carry rabies. An SNH bat expert died a few years ago after being scratched while handling an infected bat. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2509375.stm Very rare, but be careful, particularly if it is a larger variety, e.g.significantly larger than a 50p piece. Unfortunately this is the time of year when young are emerging ....

We have bats in our lofts - pipistrelles - the young are currently emerging and taking to the wing. Quite often they don't make it back to the roost and we often find them on the ground or attached to the wall. My approach is leave them if they are attached to the wall, if they are on the ground I put them carefully back in a cool spot on the wall, under the stone window sill or similar. Inevitably they disappear overnight and rarely return to the same spot. I only move them because we have two dogs.

Pipistrelles are too small to break the skin, but even so I am very careful when I handle them. I always wear gloves. If they were a larger variety such as daubenton's, that will break the skin, I would only move them as a last resort. They would have to be in the house. Outside no go.

Best advice is to leave well alone and call an expert.

Here is the recommendation from SNH site:

_Bats

Bats flying inside a room

Close the door to the rest of the house. Open the windows and curtains and dim or turn off the room light. Ideally, watch to make sure that the bat has flown out before closing the window.

If the bat lands where you can reach it safely, cover it with a cloth or small box and then follow the instructions for grounded bats.
Grounded bats

If you find a grounded bat without any obvious injury, put on bite-proof gloves, such as gardening gloves, and then pick it up by covering it with a small box such as a margarine tub, and sliding a card under this to trap it - or covering it with a small towel or cloth and using this to pick it up, and put it in to a small box.

Many grounded bats become dehydrated. You can help the bat recover by placing some water-soaked kitchen-roll paper in a shallow dish or jam jar lid on the bottom of the box for it to drink from. You can make the bat more comfortable by fixing a small piece of dry kitchen-roll paper to the inside of the box for it to hang on.

Keep the bat in its box in a cool, quiet place until near dusk and then, wearing your gloves again, release it onto a wall, ledge or tree out of the reach of cats, dogs, children and passers by. If you need to release the bat earlier in the day, please put it in a sheltered place out of the sun.
Injured bats

If the bat is obviously injured and is not flying, put on bite-proof gloves and put it in a small box (as for grounded bats). Then contact a local bat carer (through Bat Conservation Trust 0845 1300 228), a local vet or the Scottish SPCA Animal Helpline (0870 7377 722)
Baby bats

Between mid-June and late-July baby bats may fall from roosts or their flying mothers or get lost when learning to fly. If you find a baby bat, follow the guidance on grounded bats and put it in a box and keep until dusk. At dusk, release the bat on to the wall below the roost (if known) or on the side of a building, as high up as you can safely reach.

If you find a recently dead bat please contact the nearest SNH office. We may be able to use the dead bat in the UK rabies surveillance programme. More than 4,000 bats have been tested in the last 16 years. Only two Daubenton's bats, a species which rarely roost in houses, were found to have the disease.
_

jem


----------



## vardy (Sep 1, 2006)

Most towns I've lived in have a local bat group with an answerphone to member on duty. Ours is listed in the help pages.


----------



## carolgavin (May 9, 2005)

Hiya and thanks for all the advice. I have now phoned the SPCA who said I had to go get bat put it in a box and bring it into the house to heat it up for an hour. Then get a tea towel and get bat to climb on it, hang the tea towel plus bat from my washing line and leave well alone!!! I asked about rabies but she said it was only certain species that carried it. She never mentioned wearing gloves!! 

Went outside, armed to the teeth with four pairs of gloves and the wee thing had gone!! It was bigger than a 50p maybe double that size and brown in colour.


----------



## 107088 (Sep 18, 2007)

I was only 12 hours adrift with the estimate.


----------



## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

A very informative thread with lots of links which will be of use, thanks to all who contributed.

As a biology teacher it is always good to have links and definite information.

Glad the bat took the advice and flew off - they are very resilient creatures but they do bite!

As has been said, look but don't touch and do not disturb unless they are in a position where they are likely to be damaged very quickly eg in a road or in front of a cat!

Did you think to take any pics of it? Always useful for identification purposes.


----------



## carolgavin (May 9, 2005)

Penquin said:


> A very informative thread with lots of links which will be of use, thanks to all who contributed.
> 
> As a biology teacher it is always good to have links and definite information.
> 
> ...


Hiya my son and would be rescuer took some pictures of it on his mobile phone. If I can work out how to will try and download to here and post it, to see if anyone knows what kind it was.


----------



## kayg (Aug 20, 2007)

I came home yesterday to find a bat hanging on my stairs. We usually get loads in the shop loft but I've no idea how this one got into the house. the husband put him in a box and took him outside. It was about 3 inches long and almost black.
I was en route to running a bath for our daughter when I spotted it, I told her it would be okay to walk past it as it was probably asleep but when we climbed the stairs it turned to face us and started clicking and squeaking. Cue girly squealing, a hasty retreat and shouts of "DO SOMETHING WAYNE!"


----------



## greenasthegrass (Oct 27, 2007)

You batty bird! least you didny squish it like you would other stuff!

Glad you survived your ordeal and if aforementioned son brings home anything else make sure its the proper bird variety with good figure, good looks and good trust fund!

Regards

Greenie


----------

