Post #1974269

2026-05-02 21:57 UTC

All we know about Una’s origin story is that two very kind young dudes drove almost an hour to bring her to me on Monday after they found her while out on a walk. She still had a fresh placenta and umbilical cord attached, and she was at least a little premature. Her mother was nowhere in sight and we know there wasn’t an active colony in the immediate vicinity. That makes it likely that the mother was snagged by a predator in the predawn hours and Una came out in the ensuing struggle. Which is very sad! But despite that, Una arrived at my house absolutely shouting at me to feed and take care of her. And so I do! Neonates require round the clock care and have to be fed every couple of hours and stimulated to empty their bladder and bowels. They also need to be kept warm and engaged. These are social creatures and actively seek their mama. Their nutritional needs mean a constant adjustments to the ingredients we compound to make their formula. Because they are so very tiny and have such a high metabolism it’s incredibly easy for them to crash if even on thing gets out of whack. A challenge that Una had apparently decided I’m up for tackling. 😅 Even though Una has decided that I’m her parent now, these bats don’t “imprint” on their caregivers, so if she makes it through she will be fully releasable by late summer. Caveat: Don’t try this at home. I’m trained, licensed, and vaccinated!

Replies (3)

@Wallflower@beige.party 2026-05-02 22:21

@mycrowgirl I love this story. And, it reminds me of The Duke. A baby rabbit that was the runt and on the bottom of a saturated bunny hole in a former yard, left for dead. I grabbed him up, kept him warm and then began looking for someone to help. A phone call was placed to the local animal welfare. The man there was like, "lady, this happens a lot to rabbits." At which point, I began to cry and kinda scold him. "Isn't this your job? ..." Apparently, I was influential because he then gave me the name of a lady about 40/45m away. She told me to bring him on over with some goat milk from Kroger and she'd take care of him. She called me some weeks later to tell me she released The Duke into the wild. You're like her but for bats and that's cool. There is more to my The Duke story, but I'll save those for another tale...

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@steggy@sunny.garden 2026-05-02 23:35

@mycrowgirl how do you feed her? Like a really small syringe? Do you have to make the formula yourself? I’m really curious

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@Devils_Rancher@beige.party 2026-05-03 01:18

@mycrowgirl I appreciate you doing this! The whole caving community has been knocked back on its heels a bit by white nose syndrome & trying to figure out how to help, and all the bats need all the help they can get.

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