Bat ID

kellygirl

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Can anyone ID this bat? Distinctive ears, grayish fur, white underside, transparent pink wings, body ~1.5" long, can't get a measurement on the wingspan, has not made any sounds.

We're in North Carolina. My boyfriend found it this afternoon in the parking lot under a large tree with lots of foliage... haven't been able to find any other bats nearby yet. I can't tell if it's a baby or not. It's behaving like a baby and it's mostly keeping it's eyes closed but it has a lot of fur. Any insight?

-Kelly
 
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beetleman

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wow, very cute little bugger:p it could be eastern pipistrelle(pipistrellus subflavus) but not definite on that 1 there are so many that resemble eachother.
 

Heather

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I'm not to certain on what bat in particular... but I feel pretty certain it's a Vesper (Vespertilionidae.)

Some species of bats look so similar physically that the only way to tell them apart is to compare their teeth...

Good luck with the little guy... I would guess that it is still pretty young.
 

Ewok

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Wow, that is a little guy. How do bats take care of thier young, do they have nests?
 

kellygirl

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We've determined that it is probably an Eastern Red Bat, and it is back up in the tree under which it was found. When I was taking it back out, he was making some very high pitched sounds... we're hoping he'll do that enough so it's mother can locate him tonight.

[]Kaliningrad[];922394 said:
Wow, that is a little guy. How do bats take care of thier young, do they have nests?
I think it's pretty standard for young babies to cling to their mothers until they can fly...

I'm not to certain on what bat in particular... but I feel pretty certain it's a Vesper (Vespertilionidae.)
If I am right, then you are too:

Eastern Red Bat -- Family Vespertilionidae : Lasiurus borealis

Thanks! :)

-Kelly
 

TNeal

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The problem is the mother may not take him back. It know has human scent on it.

He should have been left where he was found. Lot's of people think they may berescuing a baby animal, but in actuallity we problebly condemn the little ones to death with our good "intensions"

Take care,

Tom
 

Varden

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Putting it back in the tree was a good move. It has a much better chance now, than it did on the ground where any other passing thing could and likely would have snacked on it.
 

kellygirl

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The problem is the mother may not take him back. It know has human scent on it.

He should have been left where he was found. Lot's of people think they may berescuing a baby animal, but in actuallity we problebly condemn the little ones to death with our good "intensions"
It was lying in a parking space in the middle of the day. Leaving it where it was found would have been a death sentence. Besides, we never touched the little guy. :) And from what I learned from online research and calling around to local wildlife rescue networks is that mother bats can not find or rescue their babies if they fall to the ground, but they can find them if they are up on a tree branch. I was also told that mother bats are very good mommies and that the mother of our little guy was probably still in the area looking for him...

Which leads me to an update! :)

Around 5:00pm on Sunday, we gave the baby bat a little bit of water from a teaspoon. He licked it several times and then became very active and made some very high pitched sounds -- it seemed to wake him up! We then coaxed him onto the end of a long stick which we used to place him on a tree branch about 7 feet off of the ground. We checked on him once an hour -- he was cleaning himself a lot, and very alert, but not moving from that spot. We saw him at 10:00pm in the same spot but when we checked at 11:00pm, he was gone. We checked the ground and other parts of the tree but he was nowhere to be found... so we're assuming mom came and got him! Happy Ending! :)

-Kelly
 
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Ewok

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Is the reasoning that mother bats can't find the baby on the ground, is because thier sonar won't be able to detect them?
 

DrAce

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I love bats. It's another animal type which is essentially missing from New Zealand. We have two species of endemic bat which blew over from Australia several thousand years ago.

Curiously enough, they're evolving away from flying, and have adapted now to crawling on the ground. They nest in the trees (occasionally in banks and caves) and crawl down during the night, feed on insects, then crawl back.

I think bats are the cutest thing since, well, since I don't know when.
 

Arachnotized

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How Adorable!!!!

Great ending to what could have been disastrous...I am glad you helped the little guy out. He is truly an adorable little thing!:clap:
 
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