Diagnose dead? Reanimation

Never give up!

From the rescued Nyctalus noctula (see report " Winterquarter with Nyctalus Noctula falls victim to a saw") 8 survivors and 1 dead bat were announced. The as dead announced female had her mouths full of sawdust. She had screamed of fear at the moment of the tree felling and so the wood chips came deep inside her mouth. Surprised was our vet that between death during the tree felling and arrival at our emergency station no rigor mortis has occured. This was our chance! Immediately the vet began with revitalisation (freeing the respiratory tracts, fluid replacement by infusion and magnetic field treatment). After a few minutes the little big miracle happened and the female showed signs of life! She then spent many hours on the magnetic mat and after a few hours she already took the offered water. Later she left the magnetic field mat and joined herself to her small emergency shelter in our emergency station. The same night she began under the supervision of one of our volunteers to learn eating mealworms. Also this miracle shows us that we must never give up fighting for the animals!
All animals have a good chance to be released well again in Spring. (The ring on the wings ist o mark the animals to give everyone the right medical treatment. Before the bats will be released the rings will be removed!) 

This photo shows the same bat hours after the reanimation. 

Contrary to the first impression, the bats in these photos are not dead. Bats can pretend to be dead in case of danger with the aim that possible attackers lose interest in them. This dead spot can last up to 10 minutes, in rare cases longer. Please note that if you find a supposedly dead bat, you must first salvage it. To do this, you should only touch the animal with a cloth and carefully place the cloth in a cardboard box (with very small air holes). Close the box very well and keep it at room temperature. Please contact a bat-rescue immediately at https://www.bund-fledermauszentrum-hannover.de/fledermaus-gefunden/found-a-bat/ After about 15 minutes, please carefully open the box and check whether the bat's position has changed or it moves again. If so, please take the bat to the nearest foster home. If the bat's position has not changed, please try carefully to open the wing a little. If the wing is movable, it means that the bat is only in a coma, but still alive. In this case, the bat immediately needs medical help in a care station (see link "found a bat" above). If the wing can no longer be opened and rigor mortis has set in, the bat has unfortunately died.

We recommend the book "The Rehabilitation and Captive Care of Insectivorous Bats" by Amanda Lollar. Here you can order the book.  

For medical treatment information about bats please contact Bat World Sanctuary.