2023 Annual Report - Flipbook - Page 8
We a琀琀empted to remove the downed
bats 昀椀rst, but the ac}ve bats were
starving and anxious to escape.
Dozens and dozens were crowding the
Moriah Adams
opening of the enclosure, making it
di昀케cult to remove the individuals in
trouble. We placed dishes of fresh fruit
on the 昀氀oor of the crates in order to
give them much needed food, while
also distrac}ng them from the opening
of the cage. When a dish of food was
placed into their crates, the starving
bats swarmed over the food so fran}cally that we quickly decided to pour
large amounts of fruit over the en}re
bo琀琀om of the cages to give them all a
chance to eat. Thankfully, it allowed us
the }me needed to remove the
downed bats more quickly.
We began a triage line in the sanctuary
clinic. Seven sta昀昀 and volunteers
worked }relessly over the next nine
hours, giving extremely cold and cri}cal bats the care they needed in the
form of warmth, emergency 昀氀uids,
oxygen, food and fruit juice to raise
their blood sugar.
Bats crowded at the lid, desperately wan琀椀ng out.
8
Lollar Lollar
Amanda Amanda
As the crates were moved into the
building and opened with power tools,
we were horri昀椀ed to see the condi}ons inside the cages. There was no
food or water, and many of the bats
were, indeed, pregnant. Some of these
mothers had aborted their babies during the trip, and about a dozen females were in the process of abor}ng
their pups as they were removed from
the crates. Tiny fetuses were lying in a
substance on the 昀氀oor that resembled
wet sawdust, although we were told
by the transporters that it was actually
food/gruel that had been dampened
with water so the bats could eat it on
the trip. However, not only was this
