iN VIDEO: Baby bat reunited with mother on south Okanagan property
A woman in the south Okanagan had an exciting night on July 31 when her cat brought a tiny baby bat into the house.
Rock Creek resident Lydia Street acted swiftly to rescue the baby and reunite it with its mother.
“I grew up rescuing animals with my mom and learned what to do from local vets as well as veterinary manuals when we’d rehab birds, kittens and baby mice,” she said.
She locked up her cats, put on some leather gloves and gently carried the baby bat outside where she laid it on a blanket and waited for its mother to come.
“Gloves is a no-brainer, in my opinion bats can carry rabies and even though it’s estimated only 0.5 per cent of them carry the virus, it’s not a risk to take lightly. I’m also setting an example of safe wildlife handling for my kids, too.”
Street created a video of the nature moment to show what to do in these circumstances. The baby can be heard loudly chirping for its mother. The adult bat flies around before crawling to the baby and nursing it.
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The baby then climbs onto the adult and the bats fly away into the dark night.
Street said the wood siding on her house is home to hundreds of bats.
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“Bats drop their babies accidentally from time to time, and they follow the sound of their offspring to locate it and pick it back up. I’ve seen them pick up their babies off the ground before but it’s the first time my cats have brought a baby into the house, and hopefully the last.”
She added if you find a baby bat that has been injured by a cat, it's best to call a wildlife center, but in this case, she made a judgement call.
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