Na na na na na na na na Na na na na na na na na, Bat Rescue!

So, before the inauguration happens today, and before I tell you about various other things going on in my life, I want to be sure to record the adventure that I had yesterday morning. As the title would suggest, it involved rescuing a bat.

When I got to campus on Monday morning I talked to my friend. The first this she said was "I suppose you did not get my email, there is a bat across the hall from your office, did you notice it." She went on to explain that there was what looked to be a dead bat, or perhaps a mouse, wedged under the door of the office across from mine. We of course went to investigate. While it certainly was a bat (very small), it certainly was not dead, as it was in a different position than she had seen it and watching it for a while it was moving a little now and then. She talked about taking it outside. I pointed out it probably hibernates in winter and would freeze to death, so we googled it, and sure enough it was hibernating. Our theory was that it had been hibernating somewhere up in the depths of the building/air system and had fallen down/gotten lost and ended up coming out a nearby vent.

It was Martin Luther King day, so no maintenance, and even if there had been maintenance we were not sure we would want to take that route if they would just kill it, so we googled "OSU bat" and came up with the Ohio State Bat Lab that studies bats and echolocation. Unfortunately no one answered the phones there since it was a holiday. As I googled various versions of "bat rescue" "wildlife rescue" and the like, more people joined us. Everyone was fascinated and wanted to figure out how to help it. Eventually someone decided to call the OSU Veterinary Hospital, and then while we were on the phone with them, my google results turned up the Ohio Wildlife Center. The veterinary hospital, as expected, said they could not help us or even give us advice since they do not treat exotic animals. We tried the wildlife center but there was no answer. All the people that had come began to leave and told us to figure out what to do and take care of it. My friend called someone she knew that does wildlife volunteering and we were given the wildlife center again and told to keep trying it, as it was for sure open. We eventually got a hold of them and they told us how to catch the bat and where to bring it.

So, we got it into a coffee can using a piece of cardboad. It was so neat to see its little feet and wing hooks clinging to the carpet! It was not so thrilled to be being caught, lots of chirping. We wrapped up the can in a blanket to keep it warm and then drove up to Dublin and took it into the Wildlife Hospital. It was really neat in there! You could hear all the caged songbirds singing, and when we got their they were treating a Great horned owl, so big and beautiful. Then they treated a song bird of some sort, and then it was Jack the Bat's turn (he is named after the guy whose office he was found in front of, in fact we joked it might actually be that guy since he seems a little vampire-esque). He turned out to be a very small "Big Brown Bat" (that is the species). Anyways, they tried to warm him up from hibernation and feed him and such. They will hang onto him until Spring and then release him. I am sure he is in good hands!

That is my Great Bat Rescue Adventure, and also why I am way behind on work this week.