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Houston wildlife rescue team rehabs frozen bats
Wildlife rescue teams at the Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center in west Houston have been hard at work since early Tuesday morning to rescue hundreds of frozen bats. FOX 26’s Natalie Hee visited the center to see how they were doing.
HOUSTON - Houston wildlife rescue teams have been working hard to rescue hundreds of frozen bats. The bats are now being rehabilitated at the Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center.
Wildlife rescue teams started around 5 a..m. Tuesday as teams visited four bridges across the Houston area, including the Waugh Bridge, Sugar Land and Pearland.
From each of those areas, teams rescued more than 900 bats as of Tuesday afternoon. Officials say they're expecting up to another 300 more bats by the evening.
"We have incubators, which we set at a very high temperature, so about 95 degrees. We’re keeping the humidity about 86% humidity, because that’s the type of environment the bats thrive in. We’re going to stick them in there, and their bodies are going to slowly warm up and start moving around again, get their bearings again, and kind of come out of that freeze state. Once they’re out of that freeze state, we’ll provide them with some fluids," said Tiffani Gallardo with the Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center.
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According to Gallardo, bats are extremely important to our community, because they eat insects like mosquitos and moths, which can be damaging to crops.
Once these bats are fully recovered, rescue teams will release them back into their colonies. Right now, the Houston Humane Society says they're aiming to release the bats by Thursday when temperatures are expected to be around 70 degrees.