Bats are the only true flying mammals. There are over 1,400 species of bats, and they can be found on nearly every part of the planet. Not only are they cute, they are also important...
Studying how bats use echolocation has helped scientists develop navigational aids for the blind. Without bats’ pollination, seed dispersal, and pest control we wouldn’t have bananas, avocados, mangoes, agave, or cacao… that’s right, bats bring us tequila and chocolate!
Do not handle it with bare hands! Bats can carry rabies.
Here's a map of worldwide rescues and temporary care instructions.
Bats should never be kept as pets: Here's why.
Our community's mascot is Baxter. Baxter is an Egyptian fruit bat that was cruelly kept alone and confined to a small cage for 12 years before being rescued by a bat sanctuary. You can read the full story by clicking on his name.
Our rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:
Everyone should feel welcome here. Hateful or bigoted language will not be tolerated.
Don’t post anything a fruit bat would not approve of.
Please don't hate on bats in this community (this includes all of your edgy covid humor).
Bats don’t like spam.
For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, please send a message to the current moderators. Any feedback on the community should also be sent to the moderators.
I looked out my window and saw what looked to be a piece of plastic falling out of a tree, onto the ground. Then it started crawling. When I saw it was a bat, I called the wildlife people and they caught it in a net. Poor guy looked beat up, and was very dehydrated. The wildlife people gave electrolytes and took it away for further treatment and rehabilitation.
Here are some more pics.
I have 2 more pics but Lemmy isn't letting me upload them. I'll try to upload them in a reply.
Thank you for the rescue!
It was such a strange rescue. I've rescued lots of wildlife, but never bats. We always get told bats are full of diseases and not to touch them, so I had no idea what to do. So I had to call the rescuers. The bat seemed very angry with the rescuers, who were kind and gentle and giving much needed electrolytes. But it kept staring at me like it was in love with me. After telling the rescuers how I sit outside at night sometimes and see the eerie twinkle of bat's eyes staring at me. The rescuers figured the bats must've been keeping a file on me. So when this one needed help, it knew to come to me. Maybe it doesn't sound like much to other people, but it really changed my life. That bat and I helped each other.
You and the bat are neighbors :)
Bats are common carriers of rabies. If it was me, I would go get rabies shots just in case.