Ready to fly on Halloween, the rescued bats who've had their torn wings fixed

By Jessica Satherley


Getting ready for Halloween: The little bats are getting their wings repaired at the Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre in Cheshire


Wounded bats should be ready to fly in time for Halloween after an RSPCA centre discovered a new treatment to repair their wing injuries.

Sarah Goodwin led the study in Cheshire, which found that just a bit of rest and recuperation for the bats meant tears in their wings would heal by themselves.

She said the usual veterinary technique of stitching or gluing tears to the wings back together could cause issues with the bats removing stitches or glue when grooming.


Instead, she decided to care for the nocturnal mammals which came into her care by keeping them warm, giving them antibiotics and feeding them vitamin and mineral-rich food - the veterinary nurse also restricted their flight and gave them time to rest and heal.

In nearly all cases she found that the wings on the animal had healed back together of their own accord.

Sarah, from the Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre in Cheshire, said: "I just couldn't believe how fast the wings grew back together.

"It was amazing. All they needed was a bit of rest and care and their wing membranes healed all by themselves - ready for them to fly back safely into the wild."

Repairing the wings: Some rest and recuperation for the bats meant tears in their wings would heal by themselves

The wings: On average it took around eight weeks for the healing process to work

The bats used in the 'Heal to Fly' project had been injured in various ways, including attacks from cats, out of the nine bats which have been admitted with severe wing tears over the past year, five have been returned to the wild, and two died from other injuries.

A remaining pair are still in care at the RSPCA centre but Sarah is hopeful that they can be returned to the wild soon.

On average it took around eight weeks for the healing process to work, before they were released back to the wild, the bats were given increasing flight practise to build up their strength.

Filling up on nutrients: The bats were fed a diet of vitamin-rich foods to recover

Injured: The bats used in the 'Heal to Fly' project had been injured in various ways - some by cats

Since they were all adults, it is hoped their chances of survival back in nature are equivalent to those who have not been injured.

Sarah said: "They already knew how to fly before they were injured, and would not have lost this skill despite their time in captivity.

"We are all really excited by the results so far. They will have far reaching consequences to the way we and other bat carers care for bats and will give bats with such injuries a second chance."


source:dailymail