Opening our drive gates this morning, to begin a long planned road trip, I absentmindedly flicked away with my foot a brown leaf that was in the way. The leaf emitted a series of clicks. I realised we in fact had a bat on our hands, that looked like it had an injured wing.
We immediately abandoned the road trip, and managed to track down, via our vets, a wonderful association, CHENE, that cares for injured wild animals. Wherever possible it returns them to the wild, once ‘repaired’.
M. où Mme Bat was most unimpressed at being popped in a cardboard box, placed on warming device (as recommended by the association) and driven (150km round trip) to CHÊNE. They advised that it was an adult pipistrelle and most likely had not been hit by a vehicle, but had probably been caught up in the turbulence of air created by passing lorries, which disorientates bats in particular.
Anyhow M ou Mme Bat is now in expert hands, and is hopefully saved for the nation.
And we will try to restart our road trip tomorrow, bats always permitting!
I had a sweet long-eared bat swooping about just outside my (shut) bedroom window the other night, feasting on all the insects attracted by the light. Amazing and marvellous to see him or her up so close.
Just been to visit la Chartreuse Saint-Sauveur at Villefranche and the heat and drying up of pools of water long enough for them to drink from has caused many of the bats to suffer and fall from the roof. And die.
We see our bats on the big stones at the edge of our pond when they come out at night having a drink, we put a couple of big flat stone going into the water as the cats and bees use them a lot as well.
Brief update from the animal hospital today…M./Mme Bat definitely has a broken wing. Given its tiny size, the specialists cannot actually re-set the broken wing, as you might for a larger animal.
All they can do is feed it for about a week, and hope that the broken wing mends naturally, which is possible they believe. However if the wing does not mend, they advise that unfortunately the bat would not have any form of sustainable quality of life, would no doubt suffer mentally and physically, and in that scenario they would regretfully have to put it to sleep.
Ours are beginning to stir, great stretching exercises going on… they must sense the evening air just beginning to cool… therefore suppertime won’t be far away
lovely to watch…
