How to rescue a bat

We went to a new park in the area on Friday and as we were leaving I saw something crawling across the road to leave the park.  I had to stop and rescue it. This led to a great homeschool science lesson as we talked about this little guy.

Mexican Free-Tailed Bats

Isn’t he cute, in an unbelievably ugly sort of way?  That’s certainly what my kids kept saying over and over again.

We kept guard over him (without touching, I know that much for sure) all the way to the side of the road.  Then we talked about what type of bat he is and where he lives.

Austin is home to a colony of Mexican Free-tailed bats, it’s even one of the “things to see in Austin.”  I personally like the bridge up in Round Rock better to watch the bats come out, but either way, it’s a fun sight to see.

After looking up at the bridge above us (the picture above) to remind ourselves where he probably sleeps, then we talked about what he eats.  MOSQUITOES, lots and lots of them.  That’s what we love bats, they eat bugs.  This is good.  I haven’t figured out what use there are for mosquitoes yet in God’s Creation.  I can figure out uses for most other things I don’t like or find annoying but haven’t found one yet for those.

We also caught a quick video of the bat crawling so you can see it in action.  I wasn’t aware bats could move so well on the ground, but then I remembered that young bats do that.

What to do when you see a bat on the ground

1. Do not touch it! Bats carry diseases which can cross over to humans. Observe it, does it need help?
2. If you need to move the bat, wait until it is still and ensuring your hands and arms are covered contain the bat (I would use a small basket and slip a lid underneath, that way you are never touching the bat).
3. Move it to a safe location, in our case we watched and made sure it safely moved off the road.
4. But in most cases, call your local wildlife or animal control. That is the safest course of action for you AND the bat.

Let’s see what others did for science lessons this week:

1. Highhill Homeschool had a lot of fun trying to find the best way to make an electrical circuit.
2. Switching gears, Almost Unschoolers has a great anatomically correct cookie making experience about ladybugs.
3. Lionden Landing created a fun model of the solar system (this isn’t the actual model, I just really loved the illustration).
4. Wine Cup Christian Academy did a variation on the volcano experiment I’ve never seen before.  Can you guess what she used?

Come back tomorrow to check out my contribution to Around the World in 12 Dishes!  We’re going to Russia!