[ti:Texas Woman Saves Hundreds of Bats from Freezing]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]Recent cold weather in the Southwestern state of Texas
[00:05.44]almost claimed some unusual animal victims — bats.
[00:11.40]Bats are the only mammals that can fly.
[00:15.64]About 1,600 bats had gone into shock
[00:20.52]and fallen to the ground during unusually cold weather
[00:25.32]in the city of Houston.
[00:27.28]But the bats found a temporary home for several days
[00:32.04]at the home of a director of the Houston Humane Society,
[00:36.84]a nonprofit group.
[00:38.92]The bats stayed in the attic – an upper part of the house
[00:43.76]that served as a temporary recovery space.
[00:48.20]Over 1,500 of the bats have been or will be released
[00:54.32]back to their homes -- two Houston-area bridges.
[00:59.04]Mary Warwick is the wildlife director at the Houston Humane Society.
[01:05.36]She said she was out doing holiday shopping
[01:08.52]when the freezing winds reminded her that she had not heard
[01:13.20]how the area's bats were doing.
[01:15.68]So she drove to the bridge where over 100 bats
[01:20.44]looked to be dead as they lay frozen on the ground.
[01:24.80]But during her 40-minute drive home,
[01:27.84]Warwick said they began to come back to life.
[01:31.84]The bats made sounds and moved around in a box
[01:35.92]she had placed on her heated passenger seat for warmth.
[01:41.00]She put the bats in incubators and returned
[01:44.64]to the bridge twice a day to collect more.
[01:48.20]Two days later, she got a call about more than 900 bats
[01:53.68]rescued from a bridge in nearby Pearland, Texas.
[01:58.36]On the third and fourth day,
[02:00.80]more people showed up to rescue bats
[02:03.64]from the Waugh Bridge in Houston.
[02:06.64]A special transportation effort
[02:09.08]was set up to get the bats to Warwick.
[02:12.44]Warwick said each of the bats were warmed
[02:15.64]in an incubator until their body temperature rose.
[02:20.08]Then, they received fluids given to them under their skin.
[02:24.96]Warwick said there were too many bats
[02:28.32]for one person to feed and care for.
[02:31.68]The Humane Society's current buildings
[02:34.56]did not have the necessary space,
[02:37.48]so Warwick and others put the bats in her attic.
[02:42.20]The bats were separated by colony in containers
[02:46.16]usually used for dogs.
[02:48.76]There, they were able to reach a state of hibernation
[02:53.24]that did not require them to eat.
[02:57.04]"As soon as I wake up in the morning I wonder:
[03:00.44]‘How are they doing, I need to go see them,' " Warwick said.
[03:05.08]Warwick said over 100 bats died
[03:08.72]because of the cold and the fall from the bridge
[03:12.48]but the others are being or have been released.
[03:16.48]The humane society is now raising money
[03:20.00]to build a special room for bats
[03:22.16]at the society, Warwick added.
[03:25.68]Warwick said the society's entire animal rehabilitation team
[03:30.40]will be vaccinated against rabies
[03:33.32]and trained in bat rehabilitation as they prepare to move
[03:38.08]into a larger building with the special bat room.
[03:41.96]"That would really help in these situations where we continue
[03:46.36]to see...strange weather...come through," she said.
[03:50.32]"We could really use more space to rehabilitate the bats."
[03:55.64]I'm John Russell. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM