What to do when finding an injured bat
There are two groups of bats - Megabats, which are the large flying-foxes and Microbats, which are small, usually no bigger than the palm of your hand.
Australian Bat Lyssavirus is known to infect both megabats and microbats. It is closely related to, but quite distinct from, the rabies virus.
Humans are at risk if an infected bat bites or scratches the skin.
All due care should be taken to avoid being bitten or scratched, such as wearing appropriate PPE, such as long sleeves, gloves, and a face shield for dealing with full grown megabats (flying-foxes)
Please call 0438 924 842 for advice as it is not recommended for the general public to handle bats.
Catching and Restraining
Usually the bat will be lying on the ground or hanging somewhere low. Carefully and quietly approach the bat and do an initial observation.
Does it have a broken wing?
Or a broken leg?
Is it bleeding?
Equipped with long sleeves, gloves and a towel carefully try and transfer the bat onto the towel. If he doesn't move there willingly then pick up and place in the middle of the towel. Quickly fold the towel into thirds and pick up.
Remember to keep the bats head hanging down.
If the bat is unable to grip then place it in a box with enough support underneath to have it lying head down at 45 degree angle. If the bat can grip, then place the towel over the end of a box and peg in place, making sure you give the bat enough room to hang. We don't want the bat lying down on the bottom of the box!
Next a lid can be place on the box to keep the bat secure. This is really important for little microbats because they will escape and hide in an office, and without food available will quickly die.
Keep them warm and out of airconditioning and transport to a wildlife carer as quickly as possible.