Texas bats impacted by arctic blast still being rehabilitated
AUSTIN, Texas - After more than 1000 bats were frozen to death or injured by this month's arctic blast, the Austin Bat Refuge is now rehabbing the surviving bats.
"When we first talked to you, only 400 or so were in, and far more fell from the bridges since that time," said Austin Bat Refuge manager Lee Mackenzie.
Frigid temperatures in the middle of January turned deadly for the bat population across central Texas, with hundreds falling to their death from their roosts or suffering injuries.
The Austin Bat Refuge says even in the days after, as temperatures warmed up, bats were still falling.
"They tried to fly. They found their wings were damaged from the freeze, and they fell to the ground and flopped around, and so we recovered them," Mackenzie said.
The non-profit says that out of nearly 12,000 bats recovered, there were close to 900 that did not survive .
"It is just devastating," Mackenzie said. "We hate to see that, but we would hate it even more if nobody did anything to help them."
There were three different species of bats brought in, and dozens are still in rehabilitation, according to the Refuge manager.
"A bat that wants to fly away will arch it's back and look up and feel confident and stretch its wings and start flapping and we can release them," Mackenzie said. "This bat is not doing that."
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He says during the rehabilitation process, the bats are being hydrated with electrolytes, placed on a blended meal worm diet and are continuing to be monitored, like the nearly 300 bats that were released last week.
"We offered all the bats that survived the freeze a chance to fly free," Mackenzie said. "Most of them took advantage of the opportunity, we were thrilled to see them fly away."