I was walking around a field and in a burdock patch I found a bat hanging from a burdock. When I checked it out I realized that the poor little bat was hooked in a few spots and could not get free.
It was hooked on the feet and also in several spots on the wings. The burdock hooks were large enough to hold the wings and feet. I gradually unhooked him but if he struggled he got hooked up again. I broke the branch and put him down in the grass. This made it easier to gradually remove the burdocks as I unhooked various parts. All the time he was trying to bite me.
I don't know why the bat was on the burdock but there was a large number of big bugs on the plants and maybe the bat was attracted to an easy meal.
With the bat safely on the ground I could hold it and I eventually got her untangled. There was no damage to her feet or wings. I don't know how long the bat had been stuck but it was vigorous enough when it tried to bite me. The wings felt like warm leather. She scrambled away into bushes as soon as she was free, after trying to bite me again. One happy little bat. If you handle bats be careful, they can be rabies carrier.
In the last few years, bats have been the victim of a fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) that's been killing them in great numbers. White Nose Syndrome was first observed in the Eastern US but quickly spread. Mortality rates are huge over 80% of bats in a colony have died. If you are interested here is a link to the US National Wildlife Health Center's article on White Nose Syndrome
I was reading about the bats and they eat a tremendous amount of harmful insects. It was estimated that the saved the US agriculture economy over 50 BILLION dollars.
Around here, Niagara Region of Ontario Province, Canada, I see them most nights but never in large numbers. They must be territorial because I watched one bat chase another away last week.
You can build bat houses to help house bats I've a couple of links for finished bat houses and here is a book with plans. "This book reflects the results of Bat Conservation International's "North American Bat House Research Project". "
Here are free plans for a small bat house. Here is a larger bat house.
email: Christine
This web site reflects my personal ideas and doesn't represent anyone else's point of view.
