Last week while hiking in the Colorado Springs area, one of my caving buddies noticed a bat acting very strangely. It was found laying upon a ledge in broad daylight, very unusual behavior. When closely inspected, it showed absolutely no signs of the feared WNS (which came as no shock to me, Colorado is argued to lack the climate to host such diseases). Without knowing exactly who to contact, we kept watch along the next couple days. It was obvious he wasn't flying anywhere. By night he would return to a 1" crack above the ledge he rested on each day. Our theory as to why he was in direct view is this: below the ledge he was found on was a mucky, algae filled "scum pond" of sorts. Our theory is each day around dusk he would crawl down to the ledge knowing the insects in the area would be flourishing, and with any luck he'd have a small meal. Amazingly enough, this bat existed this way for almost a week until the right people were notified. Just yesterday, a bat specialist from Denver took the bat into care. We were then informed the bat should be fine, although he was very weak and dehydrated. We were also told it was of the Big Brown species, which is rare for this locality.
I was compelled to share this story on cavechat because of the incredible adaptation of life, and the success of a concious caving community. I am very impressed by the passion of our local cavers who acted so quickly.
I will update soon to let you know how the lucky little guy is doing.
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