There's a bat in my kitchen, what am I gonna do?

admin
, 25 July 2021
There's a bat in my kitchen, what am I gonna do?
Rescued bat © Ryan Greaves

By Ryan Greaves

Communities and Wildlife Leader

I got a call from Alex Collins, Sussex Wildlife Trust's Facilities Officer, a few weeks ago saying he’d discovered a bat stuck in the kitchen at the Trust's Woods Mill offices and asking me if I could help. Not sure quite how it got in as all the doors were locked. Luckily I wasn’t too far away and I always have my bat rescue box in the car.

The bat was a male Soprano Pipistrelle and, although a bit stressed and dusty, he had no obvious injuries. He was a bit underweight, so spent a couple weeks at Amanda Millar’s bat hospital feeding up and practicing his aerobatic skills in the “Batzebo” flight cage until he was ready to go.

So I waited for the weather to improve and brought him back to Woods Mill for release this week. It was a bit of a two part lift off (maybe he’d eaten too well at the hospital) but he got away perfectly in the end.

For anyone who does find a grounded or injured bat, please use this page on the Bat Group’s website to find your nearest rescuer:
https://www.sussexbatgroup.org.uk/batrescue

Watch a slow motion film of the bat's release

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Comments

  • Sheila Turner:

    Great work, everyone. So rewarding to help a fellow creature.

    30 Jul 2021 13:56:00

  • Susan Hall:

    Beautiful little creature

    30 Jul 2021 15:15:00

  • Barbara Coady:

    Lovely to see x

    03 Aug 2021 17:30:00

  • Sue Mason:

    Gorgeous, well done
    ​​​​​​​

    04 Aug 2021 14:27:00

  • georgina scozzi:

    Wow! Never seen a bat that close before. He is completely weird and fascinating! Well done on the rescue.

    20 Aug 2021 08:06:00

  • Julie McNamee:

    Brilliant video :-)

    26 Oct 2021 10:31:00

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