What to do if you find a…
Bat
Caution: Never touch a bat with your bare hands. Bats are wild animals and should be treated with great care. Never attempt to feed, treat, or wash an injured bat. Do not attempt to rehabilitate a bat on your own. This is to protect you as well as the bat.
If you find a bat hanging from a wall or a tree and think it might be injured…
- Wait until evening and see if it leaves on its own. Sometimes bats look sick or hurt but are actually just sleeping!
- If the bat doesn’t leave by the next morning, call Native Animal Rescue at 831-462-0726.
If you find a bat in your home…
- Open all doors and windows that lead outside.
- Close off the rest of the house, leaving a path from the bat’s location to the outdoors.
- Turn out the lights.
- Leave the bat for a few hours to see if it leaves on its own.
- If it does not leave, call Native Animal Rescue at 831-462-0726.
If you find a bat lying on the ground…
Bat World Sanctuary, Weatherford TX
- Without touching the bat, place a cloth or towel over the bat and gently scoop it up.
- Gently place the bat into a clean box leaving the cloth over the bat.
- Make sure the box has no openings as bats can squeeze out of very small gaps.
- Place only a small dish of water next to the cloth and nothing else.
- Close the box, taping it shut if necessary.
- Call Native Animal Rescue at 831-462-0726 immediately or bring the bat in the box to Native Animal Rescue at 1855 17th Avenue, Santa Cruz.
