# Found this little guy in my pool!!



## bhone20 (May 4, 2008)

Just thought I'd share this with everybody.This little guy crash landed in my pool.Every evening just before dark the bats come out and swoop down and skim the surface of my pool to get a drink.I'm constantly finding dead bats in my skimmer, but earlier tonight, this one was floating at the deep end still wiggling. So I rescued him and snapped a quick shot of him on my finger to show scale of his tiny size. I put him on the palm tree to dry out and couldn't resist taking some close-up pics. I believe he is a Mexican Long Nosed Bat, or a California Brown Bat.


----------



## herefishy (Dec 14, 2006)

Hmmm.....ummm..Is that what they call a batfish?


----------



## bhone20 (May 4, 2008)

dunno....cant see no gills!


----------



## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

He's absolutely gorgeous!

What happens now? Did he fly away back home or what?


----------



## GeegaFish (May 4, 2008)

Awww...poor, cute little bat! I'm glad you were able to save him.  Thanks for sharing your pics!


----------



## bhone20 (May 4, 2008)

He is still in the palm tree. I think the chlorine may have made him sick.I kept checking on him through the night, he didn't fly away yet. But he did crawl in between two palm fronds to escape the sun. I just checked on him at 12:00pm, He has plenty of fight left in him, When I barely touched the frond, he squeaked at me and showed his teeth, so I'm hoping he will fly away at dusk.


----------



## Amphitrite (Sep 8, 2006)

He's a beautiful looking bat bhone20 

Fingers crossed he's just shocked and will fly off soon enough. I remember going night-fishing with my dad when I was a teenager and a bat got caught up in the fishing line. We brought him home and put him in a box. We thought he had damaged one or both of his wings, as he made no attempt to fly away, but after a couple of days he did. He must've been suffering from shock and just needed time to recover


----------



## bhone20 (May 4, 2008)

Well, the odds aren't on his side right now. Out of nowhere, we had horrible thunder storms and downpours. I rigged up another frond just above him so he would not get drenched. He is still dry,still shows his teeth at me.If he doesn't fly off tonight, I think I'll call the vet and see if there is anything I can do to help.


----------



## MattD (Apr 25, 2007)

Aww, cute little bat. The last pic is my favorite, he's so wet and tired and confused.

Do what you can he's too cute.


----------



## bhone20 (May 4, 2008)

Well, he didnt fly off, so I put him in a shoe box and he ate some mushed up brine shrimp mixed with water.he is doing good now.I put a large piece of cinder in the box and he latched on it and closed his eyes.I think he will do just fine.Tomorrow I plan on going to my LFS and buying some tiny crickets,grind them up into a mush and supper is served.I am really glad that I was able to help this little guy.Here is a few pics of him to show how much better he looks now..
















I snapped this one without the flash so you can see his eye.








Thanks for the shoe box idea Kate!! Its workin great.


----------



## Amphitrite (Sep 8, 2006)

No probs, I'll keep my fingers crossed that the little guy pulls through.

I Googled injured bats, and found this - hope it helps:

http://www.batconservation.org/content/Injuredbat.html


----------



## okiemavis (Nov 10, 2007)

Aww, he's so cute, I love his little piggy nose! And it's sweet that you're helping the little guy out. It's very responsible to help the guy, as he was hurt flying into your human thing that they don't know about or how to avoid.

Have you spoken with your local wildlife rescue? Some of them will just put them to sleep, and some will rehabilitate them, or help you do so. It's also illegal in many states to keep wild animals like that- of course, I would do the same thing in your situation, but I wouldn't want you to get in trouble.

Also, I noticed you're using gloves, good stuff. They can def carry rabies, and shouldn't be handled with bare hands.

Sorry, I'm sure you've already done research and know all this stuff. Just putting in my two cents anyway. Best of luck and keep up with the updates!


----------



## bhone20 (May 4, 2008)

thanks mucho. I understand that it is illegal to have him, but for every bat thats flyin round my house, thats allot less insects around that I dont like. Today he ate 4 tiny crickets.:welldone: The little bugger has an APPETITE !!. He sure is gettin animated. I'm gonna give him till sunday night,then I'll set him outside hoping he will fly off with his little buddies.I'll post a picture before then. :BIGhappy:


----------



## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

nice to see you. 
well done on the rescue,some people wouldn't have bothered
and i think it's such a shame,as you say they do keep the bugs down !!
i hope all goes well for him,and he recovers fully.
good luck.


----------



## bhone20 (May 4, 2008)

Thanx willow!!.These will probly be the last pics of him. He is eating more crickets than my convicts :shock: Tonight I'm letting him go. He looks like he has put on a few grams of weight too. 

I tried to snap the photo when he took the cricket, but he snatches it off the tweezers very fast so all I got was him chewing.








This is after he ate 4 more crickets today & getting FAT.


----------



## bhone20 (May 4, 2008)

ok, got it! This is a neat shot!
YUMMY CRICKET!!!!


----------



## bhone20 (May 4, 2008)

Good news! I placed him on my palm tree, and he flew away! :welldone:


----------



## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Awesome! Great rehabilitation job.


----------



## Amphitrite (Sep 8, 2006)

Oh that's great news bhone20, well done you!!! 
It must've been a great feeling to see him fly back off into the wild knowing that you'd helped him out.


----------



## bhone20 (May 4, 2008)

I feel good knowing he made it.!!


----------



## LJean (May 31, 2008)

awe.. how nice of you!
I have been considering putting up a bat box in my yard. We could use the insect control. (darn mosquitoes)


----------



## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

I definitely recommend it. My grandparents have several bat boxes up around their property. It's good for insect control, plus when you're hanging out outside at dusk they're fun to watch zip around.


----------



## JMeenen (Apr 7, 2008)

Cool Bat! You saved him!


----------



## southafrica1001 (Nov 18, 2007)

Well done for saving him/her


----------



## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

Kudos. Awesome.. love the pictures to.


----------



## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

I just saw this thread. What a great job! He/She's a cute bad and certainly a lucky one too!


----------



## Matt (Jan 20, 2007)

Good job savin the little guy!


----------



## Twistersmom (Dec 9, 2008)

Awsome job!!! thanks for sharing!


----------



## Tyyrlym (Jun 1, 2008)

That's awesome, love to see things like this. I love bats personally, of all the insect control methods out there they're the one I'd prefer. Not that I want one for a pet but I'll take them over spiders any day.


----------



## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

this is months old but cool.
post #1, picture #3 that little fella looks like he had a rough night


----------

