Bat Rescue
Learn what to do if a bat needs help
Pro-Bat Lifestyle
Help for Specific Bat Situation
Safely reuniting bat pups
In Virginia, Mid-May through August is bat maternity season. If you find a bat pup you think needs help and that has not bitten or scratched a person or domestic animal, please read this guide to reunite it with its mother.
MOM IS ALWAYS BEST!
Occasionally, overheating causes a colony to jostle for the coolest spots and pups get dislodged and fall out, or a predator gets in and causes a disruption. In 'natural' colony spaces, pups can climb back into the colony and reunite with mothers. However, building and bat box colonies often leave no way for fallen pups to return. If you find pups down under a known colony, you can return them using a pool skimmer. If pups continue to fall, pup catchers often solve the problem.
But sometimes a mother bat does not return to the colony. Pups that are thin and dehydrated or that are found wandering are probably orphans and can be rehabilitated by trained wildlife rehabilitators.
Adult bats can get in trouble and sometimes need rescue. Grounded bats are not always sick - they get hit by cars, blown into walls, dropped by predators, get too cold or wet, get torn or broken wings, get trapped in buildings, etc., etc. If no one has been bitten and if potential rabies exposure is ruled out, injured and displaced bats can also go to qualified rehabilitators.
If you find a bat in need of help in Virginia, here are your local resources:
Bat Conservation & Rescue of Virginia has three facilities that cover Northern Virginia,
the greater Richmond area, and the central Shenandoah Valley.
Bat Conservation & Rescue of Virginia NOVA : Please call 703-627-9975
Bat Conservation & Rescue of Virginia RVA: Please call 804-432-2127
Bat Conservation & Rescue of Virginia Headquarters (Shenandoah Valley):
Please text 703-973-3157
OTHER BAT HELP:
Please understand that rescue resources listed here may be private citizens or
facilities with business hours. You may be instructed to contain and hold or contain
and transport, as there are no bat ambulances or bat EMTs available to go everywhere
at all hours.
If the facility asks for texts rather than phone calls, please TEXT and include your location and a photograph of the animal and the situation at hand. Please do not use Facebook Messenger, Instagram Messenger, WhatsApp, etc. Rehabbers are not able
to check nonstandard messaging apps on a regular basis.
NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Regional responders:
Blue Ridge Wildlife Center 540-837-9000
AERO Animal Education and Rescue Organization text 703- 493-0554
Fairfax County: Please call Animal Protection Services first at 703-691-2131 or call BCRV
NOVA’s Kim O'Keefe at 703-627-9975
Arlington County: Please call Animal Welfare League of Arlington 703-931-9241; leave a
message even if they are not open as calls are routed to Animal Officers immediately.
Otherwise, please call Kim O'Keefe at 703-627-9975 or text Lori Brent 703-975-1986
Fauquier County: Please text Jennifer Lee at 540-903-5657
Loudoun County: Please text Kristi’s Caring Hands at 571-442-1338
Spotsylvania and surrounding areas: Please call Thomas Bennett at 540-220-2248
Culpeper area: Please text Hearts of the Wild at 540-827-7965
Northern Neck: Please text Nancy McAdams at 281-520-7660
CENTRAL REGION
Regional Responders
Chickahominy Wildlife: Please text 804-424-1390
Heart of Piedmont Wildlife: Please text 804-491-9311
Albemarle/Nelson Counties: Please e-mail Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary at
info@rockfishwildlifesanctuary.org
Essex County: Please call Maleena's Wildlife Rescue 804-366-7120
Powhatan: Please text Heather Ramsey at 804-240-4659 (Adult bats only)
WEST CENTRAL
Regional Responders
Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke: Please call 540-798-9836
SHENANDOAH VALLEY
Regional Responders
The Wildlife Center of Virginia: Please call 540-942-9453
EASTERN SHORE
Regional Responders
Wildlife ER: Please call 757-442-4774
Accomac/ North Hampton: Please call Brenda Poist 443-867-2127
HAMPTON ROADS
Regional Responders
Eastern Virginia Wildlife Rescue: Please text 757-255-8710
Evelyn’s Wildlife Refuge: Please call 757-434-349
Tidewater Rescue and Environmental Education: Please text 757-235-3189
North Suffolk: Please text Joanna Deal Wells at 757-510-5363 (Adult bats only)
Chesapeake: Please text April Green at 757-553-2761
MARYLAND
In Montgomery or Prince Georges counties in Maryland: call Second Chance Wildlife
Center 301-926-9453
In the Baltimore region in Maryland: please call Phoenix Wildlife Center 410-628-9736
WASHINGTON, DC
Please call City Wildlife at (202) 882-1000
For other regions in Virginia, please visit the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources website for a list of permitted wildlife rehabilitators by county, or use the great phone app or website from Animal Help Now.
Bat World Sanctuary maintains a national list of bat helpers; click here for more information.
Bat rescue is for adults only. Please find an adult to help with any bat. Please do not touch the bat!
Please do not handle bats with bare hands or allow children or pets access to bats or other wildlife.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING:
BATS OF VIRGINIA
If you have found a bat:
- Avoid touching any bats for any reason
- Only move bats if you can do so without coming into direct contact with the bat -- wear sturdy gloves and use a cloth or large plastic cooking spoon to gently move bats. * Be aware that any contact with the saliva or brain or spinal cord tissue of the bat constitutes a potential rabies exposure and must be reported to your county health department*
- Minimize any contact with wild animals. Once the animal is secure and ready for transport to a rehabilitator, hands off! Put the box in a secure location, like an unused guest bathroom or storage closet and leave it alone until ready to transport or help arrives.
- Before securing the animal, take a clear photograph of the animal and its surroundings/location. This helps a rehabilitator assess if the animal is in immediate danger or if it may not need rescue at all.
Bats & Covid Facts:
- North American bats do not have or 'carry' COVID-19.
- ONE bat species in China was found to have a corona virus that has DNA which is ~97% similar to SARS-COV2 (the technical name of the COVID-19 virus). By comparison, human DNA is ~99% similar to that of bonobos and chimpanzees, so a small percentage of difference can mean a great deal.
- There are 1,400 species of bats globally, which fall under a large number of genera. The species of bat in which the genetically similar virus was found is is a species horseshoe bat, genus rhinolophus, which is not closely related to any North American bat species.
- Laboratory studies have shown that SARS-type coronaviruses can attach to lung tissue of native North American bats, but no studies to date have shown that the virus can cause disease or be passed to other bats and circulate in populations.
Safely Containing a Bat
If you have found a bat that you think needs help and that has not bitten or scratched a person or domestic animal, please watch this video to learn how to safely contain it for transport to a wildlife rehabilitator.
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