LONDON: The City of Hamilton has added a new animal to its rescue roster – bats.
Currently, 13 bats are hibernating at the city’s Animal Control facility on Dartnall Road.
These fuzzy creatures have been rescued by animal control officers and will be released back into the wild in the spring.
It’s a big step forward for the city, which picks up about 100 bats every year – many of which were euthanized.
The city can only release bats into the wild during the summer months when there are enough insects available for the animals to eat. Bats usually hibernate in the winter – and if they wake up too soon, they will use up their fat stores and starve.
Previously, under Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) regulations, the city was only able to hold bats for 24 hours. If the weather was too cold to release bats into the wild, the city tried to find a spot at a wildlife rehab centre within that 24-hour window. If that failed, city staff would have no choice but to euthanize the animals.
“I wasn’t really okay with that,” said Penny Cooper, a registered veterinary technician at animal control.
That changed last May, thanks to Cooper. She took a course through the MNR and became an authorized wildlife custodian. Now, animal control is able to house the bats until the weather is warm enough to let them go – usually when the temperature stays around 15 degrees.
