HOUSTON — Remember last month when more than 1,000 cold-stunned bats were rescued in the Houston area during a hard freeze and then released? They survived thanks to the efforts of one woman and her home attic.
Until now, Mary Warwick, the wildlife director of the Houston Humane Society, has been the only person in Houston trained and prepared to rescue bats, but that's changing.
Houston's bat team is growing.
Kate Rugroden from the Bat World Sanctuary taught a two-day class on bat rescue and rehabilitation to a team of volunteers. She went over how to handle injured bats to how to hand feed the winged mammals their favorite treats -- worms.
“Depending on many she eats it could take 10, 15 minutes to feed one bat and you can't rush them,” Rugroden said while feeding a bat during class. “She might eat a dozen mealworms. She might eat 20 or 30.”
Patience is definitely key in handling bats which is why having more trained hands on deck will help maintain Houston's bat population.
In December, Warwick stored 1,600 bats in dog kennels in her attic where it was just cold enough so the bats didn't eat, but that just worked for a few days.
“They help our crops, help provide medicine, said Warwick. "A lot of medicine we get comes from them pollinating plants.”
Of course, bats love mosquitos and other insects.
“They will happily eat scorpions and centipedes," Warwick said. "Their hearing is so sensitive they can hear the footstep of a cricket walking on sand, and they'll go catch and eat that cricket.”
Houston has plenty of bat fans. Huge crowds turned out when those cold-stunned bats were released at the Waugh Drive Bridge after the freeze in December.