We are excited! Reagle's release is in today's issue of #thereadingeagle 💕 we have been working tirelessly to not only help bats but educate the public on their importance. 💕 pick up your copy today! Thank you Susan 💕 #batrescue #batrehabilitator#savepabats #savebats
The juvenile big brown bat that was rescued from the exterior wall of the Chiarelli Plaza parking garage on a chilly Feb. 5 finally took flight outdoors on Aug. 4. Reagle, as he was named by his rescuer, Stephanie Stronsick, founder of the Pennsylvania Bat Rescue, was fully recovered."This winter had been very unusual," Stronsick said. "We had several really cold nights, and then it would get really hot, and then really cold. And that disrupted a lot of hibernating bats. So he was probably hunting during the warmer nights, and then it got too cold, and he was stranded. He was emaciated, dehydrated."
The little guy had some company on his road to recovery.
"I overwintered him with four other big brown bats," she said. "We pair up bats that would be most likely released about the same time. The ones that have been in captivity overwintering for the past quite a few months, we want to try and get out sooner than the new ones. If the new ones come in and there's really nothing wrong, then we get them out in a few days."
She also built indoor flight cages for the rescue, which operates as a sub-permitee of Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in Chalfont, Bucks County. The cages are key in helping her decide when to release her charges.
"I go in with a dim light in the middle of the night and I see who is flying really well," Stronsick said. "I just kind of keep tabs on who is a good weight, who is flying really well, and then we test-fly them to make they have enough altitude."
Reagle passed the test and took to the skies of the Trexler Nature Preserve in North Whitehall Township, Lehigh County. The Preserve is also home to the Lehigh Valley Zoo, where Stronsick is a zookeeper.
The rescue is part of her Rockland Township home.
"We just did our consensus report from the beginning of the year and we rescued a little over 90 bats," Stronsick said Aug. 4. "Last year we rescued about 80 for the entire year, so it's significantly more."
Stronsick is still working on getting 501(c)(3) nonprofit status for the rescue, but has had her hands full during the busy season. She's taken in more than 30 pups (baby bats) and had a steady stream of adults caught in glue traps, attacked by cats or injured in other ways.
Follow the rescue online: facebook.com/pabatrescue
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