2023 Annual Report - Flipbook - Page 12
Lisa Stoner
in the care of FAR. We received regular
updates on their condi}on, including
the fact that they were all very thin
and balding when they arrived. At FAR,
the bats had an indoor-outdoor 昀氀ight
area for the 昀椀rst }me in their lives.
A balding male bat from Museum in Florida.
Last winter we received a call from a
distraught caregiver at a Museum of
Natural History located in Florida. Apparently, a colony of Egyp}an fruit bats
had been at this museum and on display
since 2005. This new caregiver was extremely upset as the condi}on of the
bats at the museum was very poor. The
small cage they lived in was crawling
with roaches and covered in mold.
According to the caregiver, these poor
bats had lived in this condi}on for some
}me. Many had died over the years, only to be replaced by bats purchased from
the pet trade so the dwindling colony
could start all over again. It wasn9t un}l
the enclosure became unhealthy for humans to enter that the bats were 昀椀nally
rescued, and it was simply because this
one caregiver cared enough to contact
us.
Our 昀椀rst ac}on was to get the bats out
of that horrid environment as quickly as
possible. We reached out to our good
friends at Forest Animal Rescue (FAR),
located a few hours away from the museum. FAR graciously agreed to immediately house these bats and care for
them un}l we could arrange transport
to Texas. Three days later the bats were
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While most could not 昀氀y well, they
immediately took advantage of the
outdoor 昀氀ight area with their feeble
wings, and then refused to go into the
indoor area where their food was located. When taken inside to show
them where their food could be found,
they immediately 昀氀ew back outside.
Their food was delivered to them outside instead, and when the weather
became a bit too cold and they s}ll
refused to come inside, FAR supplied
heaters in the area where they were
choosing to roost. They were at FAR
for several weeks and not once did
they want to venture inside the indoor
enclosure. We feel that it was because
they had been without fresh air, sunshine, and the ability to 昀氀y for so incredibly long that they could not bear
to be without it.
Transport was arranged, and the bats
arrived at Bat World Sanctuary safe
and sound. The records that came
with these bats were shockingly scant.
They began in 2005, star}ng with a
bulb that blew in the exhibit but