Meet Amber and Stella
Meet Amber and Stella, our new arrivals. During a check of the monitoring equipment at a cave in Vermont on Friday, February 19, 2016 the biologist from Vermont Fish and Wildlife found 2 nearly frozen bats hanging on the rocks outside their hibernation cave. They were nearly dead and would not have survived the night, so she brought them down from the cave and they were transported to the Vermont Bat Center. They arrived at 8 o’clock in the evening and for the next hour we gave them thorough exams. Like all caves in Vermont the cave that they were in is known to have the fungus that causes white nose syndrome (Pseudogymnoascus destructans or Pd) and we were expecting them to be in really poor condition. We were amazed to find that they were in excellent condition! They were hydrated and only slightly under weight. We expected them to be Little Brown Bats and were amazed to find that one (Amber) was a critically endangered female Northern Long Eared bat. We now have 3 female Northern Long Eared bats in our isolation area.
We gave Amber and Stella a few mouthfuls of high energy food and a tiny bit of water. Then we let them rest for a few hours. At 11 PM they got a bit more energy food. Beginning at 6 AM on Saturday and continuing throughout the day they go increasing amounts of energy food. By Saturday night they were acting like normal bats! On Sunday they got their first mealworms and we are now monitoring them closely.
We gave Amber and Stella a few mouthfuls of high energy food and a tiny bit of water. Then we let them rest for a few hours. At 11 PM they got a bit more energy food. Beginning at 6 AM on Saturday and continuing throughout the day they go increasing amounts of energy food. By Saturday night they were acting like normal bats! On Sunday they got their first mealworms and we are now monitoring them closely.