Why bats are adorable

Escaping the bustle of each busy day, two orphaned bats always sought each out. One wrapped its wings affectionately around the other and they drew comfort from each other, snuggling together as they settled in and went to sleep.

Charlene Durand speaks about these remarkable creatures with the tenderness of a doting mother and goes on to describe the distinctive personality of each of the injured or orphaned bats she has rescued and rehabilitated in the last three years.

Some were friendly and some were endearing, while others were feisty or grumpy or demanding. The cuddling bats, however, were Charlene’s favourite and clearly demonstrate that bats are not the fearful, monstrous creatures that myth and old wives’ tales would have us believe.

Charlene underwent training to become a bat ‘rehabber’ after learning from the KZN Bat Interest Group that there was no-one else in the area rehabilitating bats.

“My journey as a bat rehabber began when my husband found a bat lying inside our house,” begins Charlene. “The bat was clearly dead, but when we picked it up we saw a tiny pink pup attached to it. I couldn’t bring myself to throw this tiny, helpless creature away and leave it to die so I told my husband that I was sorry but we were going to be hand-raising a bat.”

Charlene’s parents were bird breeders and Charlene instinctively fell back on the knowledge she had acquired from them to try and keep the pup alive.

“It was then that I made my first ‘rookie’ mistake. I had detached the tiny pup from its mother before I could find somebody to help tell me what I should feed it. I fed him normal milk until I learned that I should feed him either kitten milk or a solution of diluted ideal milk, egg yolk and vitamins. I kept him in a sock under my shirt to give him body heat and I got in touch with the Bat Interest Group, as soon as I could, for further advice,” continued Charlene.

After a little TLC, young bats are kept warm and placed on a ledge in the area where they are found so that they can use echolocation to reunite with their families.

As she explains echolocation, Charlene whips out a ‘bat detector’ which picks up the higher frequencies in which bats communicate and makes it audible to humans.

“Bat’s use different sounds to communicate. They are very social creatures and will even share a meal. You may not kill bats. They are protected and two species are on the endangered list. You also can not remove them from your home unless you are assisted by a professional,” cautions Charlene. “It’s the same as having a person being kicked out of a house they are living in. You have to find a new home for them.”

While Charlene says she is in love with the physical structure of a bat and adores the way they recognise her and call to her when they see her, bats also have a practical purpose. They eat 3000 mosquitoes a day and their droppings make great fertilizer.

“Bats don’t drink your blood and they don’t fly in your hair. Looking at how the Lord made things around us, it is clear that bats were also made for a reason.”

Charlene has built a temporary roost in a spare bedroom to accommodate the bats that she rehabilitates and is currently building a bat sanctuary in her back yard, complete with a fly cage. Once complete, she will be able to care for up to 50 bats.

During summer, she will be using a saline drip to rehydrate bats to give them a better chance of surviving the sweltering heat.

The Vryheid Bat Sanctuary is run entirely from donations and community support is encouraged. For more information search for ‘Bat Sanctuary Vryheid’ on Facebook.