going to bat
Hundreds of Waugh Street Bridge bats set for release after dramatic rescue during freeze
Some 700 rescued backs are heading home.
Some familiar Houston winged residents will be released into the city after a harrowing time during the recent freeze.
Houston Humane Society's Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Coalition Center will release some 700 Mexican free tailed bats back to their colony under the Waugh Street Bridge from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm Wednesday, December 28 during a special event.
The bats have been in rehabilitation for six days at the center after going into hypothermic shock during the plunging temperatures.
During the freeze, Houston Humane Society Wildlife director Mary Warwick single-handedly saved the bats, which went into shock and fell onto the hard pavement below from the bridge crevices.
It was an intense rescue: Warwick put foam on the ground to give them a soft place to land, and used a flashlight and collector box to rescue them. She then placed the weather-shocked bats next to a heat source to raise their body temperatures.
"After that, we give them fluids under their skin to hydrate them," she told CultureMap news partner ABC13. "Then, several hours after that, we can start offering them food."
Thus, what could've been a disaster for these gentle creatures is instead a celebration. Fans of the bats can gather on the corner of Allen Parkway and Waugh to watch the release.
A longtime tourist attraction, the Waugh Street Bridge bat colony is a spectacle to behold at sunset as they cut across the city sky. The urban wildlife experience is a draw for visitors from all over the city, state, and country, and brings awareness to bats, which experts say are highly valuable to our ecosystem, as they prey on pests such as moths and mosquitoes.
Houston Humane Society urges fans and those inspired by the bat story to donate to a new building, which will house a dedicated bat room — meaning more safe areas for these winged Bayou City favorites.
