The Flying Battista Sisters!

Mirabel (left), Stella (right).


There were many nights when I never thought I'd see what you're about to see. It was odd--the bats just sort of coasted along, taking baby steps, until bam! one fine night they were ready for release. And yet…each night there was a little improvement. Mirabel, always the logy flier, makes two circuits of the tent without landing. And then two and a half. And then three. Stella does four, each small step forward a fresh cause for celebration. I’d come in and tell Bill and the kids what the bats had done that night. 


This video was taken on The Big Night, May 13, when there was no question in my mind that these bats needed to be OUT and AWAY from this flight tent that had been their home for the last month. That they were wild things and they could take care of themselves perfectly well, no more coddling, no more dishes of mealworms. They were onto moths in the clear night sky now; they would be finding a roost with other bats. Maybe Mirabel would even be delivering her baby soon, if baby there be. And Stella? A mate would find her this fall and the cycle would begin all over again. I hoped that she wouldn't find her way into a heated house in February again, hoped that they'd both be good girls and not go spelunking in walls or roosting in backpacks. I hoped the weather would treat them right this coming winter, would lull them to sleep and keep them there, not send them out looking for moths on a 65-degree night when there were no moths to be had.


I hoped that they'd both live into their 30's and that I'd never see them again. Most of all, I thanked them for all they'd taught me. Through their example, I'd know how to treat any bats that came my way in the future, and by writing about it, I could teach others what to do and what NOT to do for these dear little waifs of the winter night.

You'll see Stella first and Mirabel second, prodded back into flight after having circled the tent for 15 minutes. And then you'll see Stella, the next morning, shocked that I'd woken her up. She and Mirabel were going into town for release!


Astute viewers will also note my bare fingers being used to prod Mirabel back into flight. Well, I can't operate the video camera with gloves on, can I? Rest assured that a. this is the first time I'd touched either of them with bare hands and b. they'd been in "quarantine" for more than 100 days (the recommended time is 41 days) and they were most certainly not rabid and c. it felt fantastic to finally touch those cool fine membranes and that impossibly soft moley fur.




Next: Where to put them??

Dining with Bats

I have a nice bit of video here for you. This is Stella, who's had a nice evening of flight training and is getting her reward of a baker's dozen of mealworms. As the video opens, you'll hear a field cricket chirping, but if you turn your volume up, you'll also hear a low-pitched thrumming which is Stella echolocating her way to the mealworm dish. So turn it up and hit Play and listen hard as the video opens!

When she's had enough, I move her out of the dish (she'd happily eat 30 mealworms at a sitting) so Mirabel can have some, too. Mirabel was always the less enthusiastic flyer and eater, so she dropped her weight more slowly than did Stella. But I got them both down to 20 gm. and once the weight was off you could see that flying became a real joy to them. Next video: The Flying Battista Sisters!

The Bats Take Wing!

May 7 was a turning point for the batgirls. I had noticed that Stella was flying ever so much better since being delivered, as I'm sure I would. It was a wonderfully warm day, and a warm evening. Bill and I had been out all day doing a Washington County (Ohio) Big Day, seeing as many birds as we could, trying to break our record of 109. I think we got 105. I peeled out early to do some stuff and came home, and everyone else kept birding. They came back after dark to celebrate a record broken. I asked them if they'd like to see the bats fly, and Shila and Steve and Marcy stepped into the garage.

 Stella

The girls were hawt. They were flying when I walked into the garage!  I got the sneaky feeling that they were only just getting warmed up for the spring. They flew, they gained altitude, they stuck their landings, and it was so sweet to have Shila and the Whipple Bird Club there to witness it. Shila especially, since she'd seen me work them when they could barely flutter to the floor. "Wow!" she said. "They're flying SO much better!" I knew what she meant. They were better, but they weren't ready for prime time. Not yet.

Still, it was wonderful to see how spunky they were. Maybe I hadn't messed them up after all. 

The kids smiled to see them flit around my head. I'm the only one who gets to handle the animals or go in the bat tent, as I'm the only one vaccinated against rabies. Truthfully, I had stopped worrying about rabies pretty early on. I had been vaccinated in 2010 and these bats had been in quarantine since the first week of February. They were perfectly healthy, if temporarily obese, and showing no symptoms of any disease. Still, no one in my family would come near them; they viewed them through the tent’s nylon walls. That was as it should be, for rabies is nothing to be trifled with, even if the risk of contracting it is vanishingly small.

That didn't mean I handled them bare handed. In the three months I kept them, the bats only bit twice, and since I always wore sturdy gardening gloves, no damage was done. Stella would gnaw a little at the gloved hand she rested on when, on the rare occasions that I hand fed her, I wasn’t dishing up the mealworms fast enough. Once when I went to get her out of her roost she chattered angrily and bit down hard on the thumb of my glove, which I’d thoughtlessly stuck right in her face. I felt the power of her jaws squeezing my thumb and thanked goodness I had always worn gloves when handling them. Figures that the impetuous blonde would be the nipper. Still, she was anything but aggressive--just protecting herself.

What an incredible privilege it was to be able to handle them, to see how their delicate finger bones ran through the cool smooth membranes of their wings, to see how their legs and wings and tail were all connected by crenulated skin that, when unfolded, would help bear them aloft. 

All in good time, my pretties.

ZICK ALERT:  Come see me and Bill and get your copy of The Bluebird Effect and Bill's brand-new The Young Birder's Guide to North America signed and personalized at Sugden Bookstore, 282 Front Street, Marietta, Ohio, Friday, June 8, from 4-9 pm as part of our beautiful town's fabulous Merchants and Artists Walk on summer Fridays. Free ice cream (and extraneous minutiae).