Good Samaritans Save Thousands of Bats From Freezing In Texas Cold Spell
Timothy Roberts
The weather is something that we talk about often and for good reason. When it comes to extremes, we are seeing them more and more frequently and those extremes can have a real impact on us and the world around us.
This was seen in Texas recently when a cold snap caused some severe difficulties for many animals in the area.
Photo: The temperatures in the Houston area got so low that some of the bats that were living underneath a bridge began to fall.
All in all, about 1600 of those bats were saved. The Humane Society in Houston was able to keep them from freezing after they fell from the sky onto the pavement. If it weren't for the efforts of those who really put their heart into the work, they would have likely died.
Photo: According to AP News, the wildlife director at the Houston Humane Society, Mary Warwick, began to get worried about the Mexican free-tailed bat colony under the Waugh bridge. Even though she was out taking care of her holiday shopping, she decided to stop by and see how they were doing.
When she arrived, she found about 100 of them lying on the ground. Rather than just letting it happen, she would go collect them twice a day and put them onto carriers. They were then warmed up using the cars heated seats and eventually, incubators in her attic.
Photo: More than 900 other bats were brought from a different colony by volunteers that were working hard as well.
According to The Guardian, many of the bats were able to get back on the way after getting warmer and getting dehydrated. There were others, however, that had to stay in the incubator for longer to get warmer.
The bats were eventually released under the Pearland Fite Road Bridge and the Waugh Bridge by the Houston Humane Society. Check out the video below:
Thanks to the efforts of the volunteers, 1544 bats were collected. This is similar to what happened last year with the Texas turtle rescue. Thousands of turtles were rescued during that time when they were stunned by the cold.
