Our Wild Sanctuary (inner diagram below)

Wild populations of Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis Mexicana) continue to decline at an alarming rate, primarily due to ignorance and loss of habitat. It has become increasingly important to preserve and protect their remaining roosts. Our Wild Sanctuary is located in Mineral Wells, Texas, in a two-story, historic structure that was built in 1899 out of hand-hewn sandstone. Vacant for decades, the crumbling and shifting rock has left ample openings for thousands of bats to inhabit the upper crawl space of the top floor (see inner diagram, below). The old apartment building remained vacant for years, but in 1992 the owner decided to sell the property and wanted the bats exterminated, so we purchased this real estate in order to save the bats.

Our Wild Sanctuary is used every spring by the bats as a breeding site. A few months later, approximately 1000 mother bats form a nursery colony and each give birth to a single pup. Every summer, orphan bat pups are found, rescued and hand raised at Bat World. Most of these orphans become part of our orphan release program and are returned to their colony after they learn to fly. Before release they are marked with a permanent tattoo (using a noninvasive technique) and introduced into our pre-release flight cage. Adult bats in trouble are found at the Wild Sanctuary as well. These bats are rehabilitated back at Bat World and eventually released back into their original colony.

This building is not only of vital importance to our local colony, but it also serves as a stop-over site for thousands of bats during both spring and fall migration. Free-tailed bats reside throughout the lower half of the United States and migrate to and from Mexico every year. Some of these bats travel hundreds of miles during their annual trek. Stop-over sites are critical to the survival of these bats. Important discoveries about wild populations of free-tailed bats have also been made in this building, including the first sighting of mating activity in T. brasiliensis in a wild colony. Additional documentation about migratory patterns as well as swarming activity (a long-standing mystery among some researchers) has yielded information that suggests that bats of this species gather at maternity sites prior to their fall migration to Mexico, perhaps to serve as pre-migratory orientation for the young.

Improvements to this building are ongoing, and so far include a new roof, a pre-release flight cage and the removal of ceiling planks on the entire south side to allow ventilation for the colony and a clearer view for rescues and behavioral studies. Because the ceilings are twelve feet high, catwalks have been constructed for close-up viewing, however, this type of viewing is limited in order to avoid disturbance of the colony. The floor underneath the nursery colony has also been padded to protect any babies that may fall.

Our organization continually seeks donations to help with ongoing improvements in addition to seeking help with our remaining mortgage on the sanctuary, which is approximately $15,000.00. Donations of any size to help preserve and secure this most important habitat are greatly appreciated.

A - The hallway in the upper floor, showing the expansive 12' high ceiling as well as doors that lead into vacant rooms on either side. The rooms to the south lead to areas where most of the wild colony roosts. Doors to the north lead to the pre-release flight cage and a room that is used for storage. The ladder in the hallway is used to rescue bats that have become lost. Photo by Tiffany Keller.

B - The pre-release flight cage. Two walls were removed to enlarge the area, and the remaining walls and ceiling were lined with plastic mesh. Black lights hang from the ceiling to attract insects (windows are screened with large-holed netting to allow insects to enter). A kiddie pool trimmed to a height of one inch serves as a water source for bats that are learning to forage and skim water while in flight. A home-made ladder on wheels sits at the end of the room. Photo by Lylette Roberts.

C - A graphic of the five catwalks that line the south side of the building (note the exposed rafters, as seen in photo E). Drawing and diagram rendered and donated by Rich Newman.

D - Plump, pink baby free-tailed bats cluster safely within the rock crevices in the back two rooms of the building's south side. Photo by Amanda Lollar.

E - A small section of the rafters along the south side. Up to 30,000 bats find safety in this crawl space. Photo by Amanda Lollar.

F - The south side of the Wild Sanctuary as seen from the rooftop of the adjacent building (partially showing on the left side of the photo on the preceding page). The ladder outside is used for rescues of both orphaned and injured bats that sometimes cling high-up on the outside of the building. Last year, a net was added under the orphans area to catch babies that may fall. Photo by Tiffany Keller.

G - Bats emerging from the south side to forage for insects (same rooftop as F). Photo by Mike Chamberlain.