If you have found a grounded bat? Ring The Bat Conservation Trust Helpline on 0345 1300 228
or visit the BCT website https://www.bats.org.uk/our-work/national-bat-helpline
Bat Care
We receive lots of calls a year from people who have found a grounded or injured bat. We respond as quickly
as we can and where necessary will take a bat into care with the intention of releasing it as soon as possible.
Bats are long lived for small mammals so it’s important that we release them at the same place where they are found as they will know all the best feeding and roosting sites.
If you find a bat the best way to contact us is by calling the National Bat Care Helpline on 0345 1300 228. If for any reason you can’t get through or if there is no answer please send an email to nottsbatgroup@gmail.com with your name, phone number and location and we will get back to you as soon as we can. It may take longer to respond to an email so please use the helpline first.
Initial help with a grounded bat
- Get a secure box ready: eg a shoebox. Poke some airholes no bigger than 5mm in the lid. Make sure any bigger holes are covered as bats are escape artists!
- Put a small milk container lid with some water in the bottom of the box.
- If you have to handle the bat to contain it, WEAR GLOVES and use a soft cloth to gently scoop it up.
- Leave the cloth in the box for the bat to hide under. Make sure the lid is secure.
- Keep the box in a dry, dark, quiet place ready for collection.
- If there is a delay and the bat is obviously injured take it to a vet, but please leave contact details of who found it and where. If the bat is releasable we need to bring it back to its home patch.
Above. Brenda the brown long-eared bat was rescued from a garden in Balderton. Weighing just 6g, she was found lying on the ground, half-frozen. After being cared for by Alex, Brenda weighed a healthy 11g and was successfully released by Lynn 5 weeks later in the back garden in which she was found.
Below are two before and after care photos.
These pictures show the time and dedication required by members to nurse these bats back to full health.
When grounded bats soon become dehydrated, so the first job is to rehydrate the bat. Each bat will be assessed by an experienced carer and treated accordingly.
Left Before care To the right after care and ready for release
Left Before care To the right after care and ready for release
The above example is a brown long-eared bat that had been stuck to the yellow sticky fly papers. You can see the ears folded back toward its wings - a sign the bat is not too distressed.
Support our work caring for bats by making a donation to Nottinghamshire Bat Group
Donations are by bank transfer (details Below)
This is a voluntary group financed by membership and donations alone.
Santander Bank account for Nottinghamshire Bat Group Ac/No 05289653 Sort Code 09-01-50
Please use the name of the person donating as the payment reference.
Bat Rescue Records
This form is intended for registered Nottinghamshire Bat Group bat carers to submit their records.
This form is for registered Nottinghamshire Bat Group bat carers to update details about a bat that has already been reported using the Bat Care Record Form.