On Sunday Rina called me and pointed to a beetle marching across the patio.
A beetle enjoying the scarce water drops after a light shower of rain
Not easy to photograph; it raced across the patio on a mission of its own
A pretty specimen which soon disappeared in to the sparse growth which passes for my garden these days!
On Thursday morning, Rina spotted a small bat against the trunk of our mulberry tree
We thought it may be a young bat
That night Rina found the bat lying on its back on the ground, near the tree trunk. I slid a sheet of paper under it and placed it on the table. I filled a syringe with distilled water and as I held the tip near the bat's mouth, it opened and the little mite drank!
Poor little creature was dehydrated because of the unusually high temperatures we're experiencing at the moment
Once it had had its fill, we placed it on the paper, in a small box (with holes in the lid) and left it in a cool place in Rina's room
As the evening darkened, Grant kept Skabenga indoors as he was most interested in the box Mum was carrying. Rina and I placed it on a flat stump hoping it would fly off there during the night.
It didn't fly away overnight. In the morning we saw it had slid head down into the crevice. I contacted "bat experts" via the Internet and e-mailed photos to them. They suggested I leave the bat to sleep during the day (this is what bats do!) and at nightfall to give it something to eat. According to them it looked rather thin.
While we were still wondering how we were going to catch mosquitoes and other small insects, nature stepped in.
Of course, once again I'm having problems with uploading photos here on blogger. However, I managed to upload them on Facebook. Which you can see here if you wish. (It's not a happy ending, so if you're squeamish, don't visit my FB)
I'm linking my post to Saturday Critters with Eileen, here
Happy Saturday to you all!
It didn't fly away overnight. In the morning we saw it had slid head down into the crevice. I contacted "bat experts" via the Internet and e-mailed photos to them. They suggested I leave the bat to sleep during the day (this is what bats do!) and at nightfall to give it something to eat. According to them it looked rather thin.
While we were still wondering how we were going to catch mosquitoes and other small insects, nature stepped in.
Of course, once again I'm having problems with uploading photos here on blogger. However, I managed to upload them on Facebook. Which you can see here if you wish. (It's not a happy ending, so if you're squeamish, don't visit my FB)
I'm linking my post to Saturday Critters with Eileen, here
Happy Saturday to you all!
We regularly had small Bats nesting on the inside of a large parasol. Every time we opened it, they would fly off. I imagine they were rather annoyed with me. I like your Beetle.
ReplyDeleteYou did yyourbest for the Bat but the Blackbird won in the end. Unusual Beetle. I ahve sent you an mail hoping you can help with ID. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteHello Jo, what a cool looking beetle. The bat is neat too, sorry there was not a happy ending. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteWhat a remarkable story! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI won't look at the sad ending but kudos to you for trying to save the bat!
ReplyDeleteoh what a shame....when you had tried so hard to rescue it.
ReplyDeleteVery intriguing post about the little bat ~ so glad you were caring for it ~ hope it survives ~
ReplyDeleteWishing you a fun weekend, ^_^
The focus on the beetle's shell is great.
ReplyDeleteGreat effort by you to rescue the bat.
It's so hard to save animals but thanks for giving it a try.
ReplyDeletepoor little bat critter.
ReplyDeleteNature does have a way to sorting things out - and often we dont like it. The beetle looks good value!
ReplyDeleteCheers - Stewart M - Melbourne