2023 Annual Report - Flipbook - Page 41
In 2022, we mounted a large, double-sided bat house, complete with
a pup catcher, beside the Bat Castle. This bat house sits above the
tree-line where it can be more easily spo琀琀ed by foraging bats. The pup
catcher is designed to be easily lowered in the event orphaned bats
need to be rescued.
Amanda Lollar
While bats have not begun to use
the Bat Castle full }me, there is evidence of migra}ng bats using the
Castle as a stop-over site.
Juvenile bats enjoy one of the nooks speci昀椀cally
In July, we rescued over 50 juvenile designed for Mexican free-tailed bats inside the
bats trapped inside old buildings. As Bat Castle.
Amanda Lollar
we had been doing for nine years
previously, aver we hydrated and triaged bats who needed it, we released them
into the Castle. Over the next week we con}nued to release bats who were
trapped in the same buildings. Then, a three-day lull passed without any bats
becoming trapped and being released. In checking the Castle on July 28th, we
saw bats s}ll inside the Castle, doing well. There was also guano on the predator
guard surrounding the caste. Needing more proof that the Bat Castle was indeed
being occupied, we went at
dawn on July 31st in high
hopes of seeing bats returning
to the Castle. Right before the
sun came up, we saw a bat
heading toward the Castle,
then another, and another,
and another. Aver 10 years of
wai}ng, we were 昀椀nally seeing
what we have been dreaming
about for so long. Now that
bats are calling the Castle