AUGUSTA COUNTY, VA (Rocktown Now) — On February 1, an adult Silver-haired Bat was admitted to the Wildlife Center of Virginia after a homeowner discovered her grounded and exposed on a snow-covered porch in Albemarle County. She is the ninth bat admitted in the past month, highlighting how frequently winter weather can bring these patients into the Center’s care.
On admission, the bat was quiet but alert, weighing only 8 grams. The veterinary team conducted a thorough exam and found that she was mildly dehydrated and thin, though she had no visible injuries, and radiographs did not reveal any internal trauma. The team suspects that the bat had exhausted her fat reserves and struggled to find enough food in the harsh winter conditions.
“Silver-haired bats often migrate to warmer climates, but many remain in Virginia and enter torpor to survive the winter, “explains Lilly Farmer, a veterinary technician at the Center. “They depend heavily on the fat reserves they build up in the fall. If a bat is suddenly disturbed from a roost, or didn’t accumulate enough fat before winter storms, it can burn through those reserves quickly. When that happens, they may be forced to forage on a cold landscape where insects are scarce—which is likely what happened to this patient.”…