ABOUT BAT CONSERVATION AND RESCUE QLD
Bat Conservation and Rescue Qld
is a registered not-for-profit volunteer organization that strives to help people understand the importance
of all bat species, to provide a prompt and humane rescue service, to raise orphans and to rehabilitate injured bats before returning them to the wild.
BCRQ offers this free 24/7 community service all year round including public holidays.
I HAVE FOUND A BAT
SEEK HELP – PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH BATS!
CALL OUR RESCUE HOTLINE ON 0488 228 134
If a bat bites or scratches a human, it may have to be destroyed and sent for testing for Australian Bat Lyssavirus – do not risk the bat’s life or your health. Only people trained and Rabies vaccinated should handle bats.
A flying-fox hanging on overhead power lines may still be alive. Even if dead, it may be a mother with a live baby tucked up under her wing. Please call BCRQ immediately.
If you find a flying-fox caught on a barbed wire fence, please very carefully and without touching it, throw a towel over the bat to help keep it calm. Then call BCRQ immediately.
If you find a flying-fox caught in fruit tree netting, do not try and cut the bat out of the net but call BCRQ immediately.
If the bat is on the ground, please cover the bat with a cardboard box or a washing basket to contain it and call BCRQ immediately.
Any bat by itself through the day is in trouble.
Keep children and pets away from the bat to help minimise its stress and remember, NO TOUCH NO RISK!
HOW YOU CAN HELP
BECOME A MEMBER
Join as an active or associate member. BCRQ offers free training to members.
MAKE A DONATION
Donate via Bank Transfer or PayPal.
All donations of $2.00 and over are tax deductible.
Sign up for our newsletter
Facebook Posts
Dear Local Friends,
We’ll be at Brisbane City Council Environment Centres Downfall Creek Chermside West from 4:30 to 6:30 this afternoon for a fabulous free event. Some last minute places have become available. Book at this link if you’d like to come. Batty costumes encouraged!
Please note that children must have parents attend with them and, for safety reasons, nobody under 6 years old please. Full details at the link. Hope to see some of you there. 🦇
www.eventbrite.com.au/e/halloween-night-adventures-debunking-the-myths-beastly-bats-tickets-16371...
Halloween Night adventures: Debunking the myths - Beastly Bats!
www.eventbrite.com.au
A guided night walk and wildlife presentation where you'll discover the facts and debunk the myths about bats!There is nothing as relaxed as a baby bat in a milk coma! The first of our babies into care this season are starting to grow. We’ve had such wonderful flowering conditions this year that we are getting large and very fat babies into care. The mums are not needing to put themselves in risky scenarios to feed themselves and their babies. This means the numbers of babies into care has so far been blissfully low relative to other years. In this video we have Feta and Halloumi, a baby black and grey headed flying fox. We posted about Halloumi a couple of weeks ago after he was found on his electrocuted mum. Feta was found by herself on the ground and we aren’t sure what has happened to her mum. Both babies have settled into care well and are thoroughly enjoying cuddling with their carer and their warm milk bottles. They will be lovingly raised by their carer until they are 12 weeks old before they head to our crèche aviary to be soft released.
Remember that any bat by itself during the day is in need of help. Don’t touch the bat and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds or your local wildlife rescue for other regions.
This is mum, Mina, and her baby, Daisuke, who are Grey-headed Flying-foxes. Mina was feeding in a tree in a suburban garden, with Daisuke clinging on in her wingpit. Unfortunately Mina flew out of the tree just as the resident arrived home, and sadly was bumped by his car. There was nothing he could have done to avoid this and he quickly called us in to care for the pair. Luckily it was a low speed accident.
Sometimes hitting wildlife is unavoidable and it’s wonderful when drivers who’ve accidentally done this stop and check on the animal. This driver saved two lives by checking and calling.
Thank you very much to Carlos of casl Entertainment for sponsoring these beautiful flying-foxes.
If you see a bat on its own in the daytime, it needs help. Don’t touch the bat and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds or your local wildlife rescue in other regions.
This adorable little man is Walter, a baby black flying fox. This little boy was found by himself, covered in ants in a suburban backyard. It’s incredibly lucky that the home owner saw Walter and gave us a call to rescue him. He is only a day old, so young he still had his umbilical cord attached. There are a multitude of reasons Walter may have ended up by himself. We aren’t sure what has happened to his mum but Walter is now safe and warm with one of our rehabilitators. He will be raised in our care before being released back into the wild when he’s old enough.
Remember that any bat by itself during the day is in need of help. Don’t touch the bat and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds or your local wildlife rescue for other regions.
This stunning juvenile little red flying fox is Laksa. Laksa is one of this seasons babies so as she was making her first flight south, she has flown into barbed wire and caught her wrist. She managed to get herself off the barbs but the damage to her wrist was too sore for her to fly. So she stayed hanging on the fence until she was spotted and we were called to rescue her. Even though her wrist is very sore and she is frightened, this girl has an incredibly sweet nature and is the perfect patient. She is thoroughly enjoying her pear smoothie as she recovers from her injuries and ordeal.
Barbed wire entanglement is one of our most common reasons for rescue. It causes horrific injuries to a wide range of wildlife with only a small proportion surviving. We are currently installing visible tags on barbed wire fences to reduce entanglements in hot spots but we can only do so much. Australia's reliance on barbed wire is dated and is in serious need of an upheaval.
Thank you to Hayley for her generous sponsorship of Laksa!
Remember that any bat by itself during the day is in need of help. Don’t touch the bat and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds or your local wildlife rescue for other regions.
This tiny trapeze artist is Steven, a baby grey headed flying fox. One of our rescuers was driving home from another rescue when she spotted a tiny baby flying fox hanging still on overhead powerlines. He wasn’t moving so she feared the worst, shaking her keys and calling out to him to try and get a response. It wasn’t until she played our video of another baby calling that she got a reply! Knowing this little one needed help ASAP we gave the wonderful people at Energex a call. They sent out a team with a cherry picker who could use a small net to retrieve this baby off the powerlines. This little one is only a couple of weeks old so we suspect his mum has been fatally electrocuted but since fallen off the powerlines, leaving baby stranded. It’s a good reminder to not only check electrocuted bats for babies but to look up as well! This sweet baby has been named Steven after the kind Energex operator who rescued him from the powerlines.
Remember that any bat by itself during the day is in need of help. Don’t touch the bat and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds or your local wildlife rescue for other regions.
We recently had a pregnant colony of broad nosed microbats into our full service day spa. These beautiful ladies thought they had found the perfect roost to raise their babies for the summer. Unfortunately this roost was someone’s pool umbrella! This is surprisingly very common in urban areas. If you have a pool umbrella you want to use over summer, now is the time to slowly open it up after dusk and leave it open during the day. If you have any battie residents they will be able to fly off and find a new roost without interference. In a few short weeks our microbats will start giving birth. A colony with babies is logistically and ethically far more difficult to deal with so please slowly open up those pool umbrellas after dusk now. Thankfully these ladies only needed a short stay in our care to make sure they weren’t injured before being released to find a new roost. We use different coloured nail polish on our bats to identify them individually. We’re sure these lovely ladies appreciated our 5 star pedicures and all you can eat buffet before house hunting 💅🏻
Remember that any bat by itself during the day is in need of help. Don’t touch the bat and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds or your local wildlife rescue for other regions.
A very exciting day for our sweet Casteel as he is released back into his colony. Casteel was found trapped in a back yard pool bobbing up and down in the water. He is extremely lucky he didn’t drown as this pool did not have a wildlife escape ramp. Apart from being absolutely exhausted from his ordeal, Casteel managed to come away unscathed. He just had to spend a few days in care for monitoring.
His carer apologises for the terrible release video as it’s difficult to record and release at the same time!
We release flying foxes during the day directly into their local colony. This gives them time to get their bearing and settle before they need to worry about foraging for the night.
Remember that any bat by itself during the day is in need of help. Don’t touch the bat and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds or your local wildlife rescue for other regions.
This delectable baby grey headed flying fox is Halloumi. His mum was out flying at night with him tucked safely under her wing when she touched overhead powerlines and was fatally electrocuted. She stayed on the powerlines until the next afternoon when she fell to the ground in front of a vet nurse. This nurse knew to check wildlife for babies so she inspected Halloumi’s mum and found Halloumi tucked up in her arm pit. Knowing not to touch bats, she called us to rescue him. As is often the case, even though Halloumi’s mum died from the direct electrocution little Halloumi only has superficial burns which will heal up well. He’s less than a week old so he will be lovingly raised by one of our carers until he can be released back into the wild.
Halloumi’s story is a good reminder to check electrocuted flying foxes for babies. If a bat is still on the powerlines and you aren’t sure, please give us a call for guidance. Babies can survive for days on their electrocuted mums up on powerlines. Please stop and check for a baby, you may just save a life like this vet nurse has saved Halloumi ❤️
In this video Halloumi is having his bottle and being gently stroked with a soft tooth brush. Our baby flying foxes love being stroked as this mimics the love their mum gives them in the wild.
Remember that any bat by itself during the day is in need of help. Don’t touch the bat and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds or your local wildlife rescue for other regions.
This dashing boy is a juvenile grey headed flying fox. Our flying foxes navigate solely by sight so they find it very difficult to see clear glass at night. This young man has managed to fly into a glass balcony and knock his head. He was very dazed so the homeowners gave us a call to rescue him. Thankfully he isn’t seriously injured and should heal from the head knock with some TLC in care.
It’s not just bats that fly into glass, it’s a massive issue for birds as well. Consider putting window decals on glass pool fences, windows and glass balconies to make them easier to see for our wildlife.
Remember that any bat by itself during the day is in need of help. Don’t touch the bat and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds or your local wildlife rescue for other regions.