They got the help they so desperately needed ❤️
Earlier this month, after a series of powerful storms swept through Southwest Florida, a homeowner made a surprising discovery on their lawn. A large palm frond had fallen from a tree in their yard — but this was no ordinary piece of storm debris.
As they approached to move it, they noticed something unexpected: hundreds of tiny eyes staring back at them.
Huddled beneath the fallen frond were over 150 baby bats, clinging to the only shelter they had left after being dislodged from their treetop roost.
Shocked but compassionate, the homeowner quickly contacted the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. Rescue teams were dispatched immediately.
“[The homeowner] called the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida,” said Reneé Stoll, the conservancy’s director of communications.
The tiny bats were carefully gathered and placed on a soft blanket inside a box. One by one, each pup — all 156 of them — was examined by rescuers to assess their condition.
“Our goal was to return them to their parents as soon as possible,” the Conservancy wrote. “But first, a full exam needed to be done on each pup to check for injuries.”
Tragically, 11 of the bats were too badly injured to survive. But the remaining 145 were healthy and strong enough to be re-nested.
Because the babies were still dependent on their mothers, rescuers had to act fast. They turned to experts at Bat World Sanctuary, who advised installing a nesting box in the original tree so that the parent bats could locate and reunite with their pups.
With assistance from Homegrown Tree Care, a special nesting box was mounted in the same tree the bats had fallen from. A protective drape was also installed below, just in case any pups lost their grip and fell.
“They were able to be re-nested with their parents,” Stoll said. “Our staff returned every two days to check on the bats and make sure they were doing OK and continuing to feed.”
No bats were found in the safety drape, a promising sign that the parents were successfully caring for their young.
Thanks to the quick action and teamwork of multiple organizations and community members, dozens of lives were saved and given a second chance.
“The von Arx Wildlife Hospital receives more than 4,000 patients a year as the only wildlife hospital in our county,” Stoll added. “Our staff couldn’t make such a difference without the support of other agencies, community members, and our hundreds of dedicated volunteers.”
“I couldn’t be prouder of the work our teams do every day to protect our ecosystem and all of the native wildlife that call Southwest Florida home — including these amazing bats.”