Lemme explain...I work in labs in an old building where above the the 4th floor (where I happened to work) is the ventilation system for the whole building. Basically there's a whole floor of space full of fans and such above us for all the labs in the place. Where I live there are lots of bats living in the trees down by the river - you can sit and watch them hunt mosquitos at night by the wier if you feel so inclined - very cool. Where I work is also right by the river. Soooooo...when hibernation time comes a few of these little guys sometimes end up in the gap between the floors to sleep away the winter. Now once or twice a winter one of them will wake up and not be able to keep hibernating and set out to find food inside where it's warm. So they flut about the hall, classroom or lab all scared and people run around covering their head (especially one of my coworkers) and shriek and eventually try and catch it to release it. The problem is winters her can get down to -35 C..not good weather for *anybody* especially bats. The only option was to put them to sleep - I didn't like it. And so, after doing some investigation, I've worked out a deal at work to be able to safely catch them and take them to a lady I found in the city who takes in injured bats and birds and helps fatten them up and has a cold room for them to hibernate in until spring. So, last winter I managed to help out two little guys I ended up naming Zeus and Apollo (don't remember why). Unfortunately Apollo never made it, but Zeus survived and was healthy and I had the unique privilege of setting him free back in to the trees this spring, once the skeeters were back for him to eat.
Very cool experience.
The long and the short of it is that over time, it's become known around work that if you find a bat call me, the "batgirl" on the 4th floor. I've even cleared it all with my supervisors and made sure I'm officially trained to handle them - my supervisor keeps teasing me that he's going to get me a shirt with the batman symbol on it if I keep it up this winter...I can only hope!
Bwahahahaaa!
I am Batgirl!
Defender of critters!
Savior of all squeaky things!
I'd actually forgot about Zeus until I got a picture of him today that we took before he was set free.
....isn't he cute?
(for a bat :) )
2 comments:
He is a cute looking bat. That's very cool, I'd be the same way about them. Any animal/insect that makes a meal out mosquitos deserves to be helped out in my opinion.
When I was working in Old Montreal a dragonfly flew in the window and my co-workers, city-raised painty-wastes everyone, freaked right out and were trying to kill it. Pretty big dragonfly too. I caught it with out harming it and let it go.
Trained to handle bats, well you do have a special skill - I am envious.
When I was working out at Monkman Park, the bats were able to get in a crack in the board that covered the window of the shed, and spent the days tucked in between the glass and the board (the glass being on the inside, the board on the out to keep rocks from flying through). I used to go out to the shed and just watch them as they shuffled around in there. It was cool.
OOOGU!!!!
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