Nebraska Wildlife Rehab receives all types of wayward local critters: owls, squirrels, foxes, chipmunks, the occasional grumpy toad. Even so, one of the latest drop-offs was a bit…unexpected.
Workers in an Omaha office building spotted a teeny-tiny animal crawling on the floor and promptly called NHS Animal Control, which transported it to Nebraska Wildlife Rehab.
The animal in question? A female bat. But not just any bat, apparently. It’s a species that has never been recorded in Nebraska.
A big discovery in a tiny package
As the organization explained on social media, the species this wee one belongs to is cave myotis.
According to the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat), it is most commonly found throughout much of Mexico and in the southwestern United States, including California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
So how the heck did this little gal make it hundreds of miles away from her home and all the way to Nebraska? The experts think she might have unintentionally hitched a ride.
“Although we’ll never know for certain, we do have a pretty good theory: she may have been an accidental stowaway. We suspect this little bat could have tucked herself into a shipment or piece of freight originating within her normal range, only to emerge after arriving in Omaha. It’s not unheard of for wildlife to hitch an unintended ride in transported goods, and her unusual location and circumstances make an accidental journey a plausible explanation,” Nebraska Wildlife Rehab wrote in an Instagram caption.
Cave myotis also tend to roost in dark environments, like the caves of their namesake, mines, tunnels, and buildings, per NABat. She may have mistaken a shipping truck or freight train for one of the safe-to-roost spots.
Itty, bitty, batty model
Regardless of how she got there, she is safe and in good hands. Most importantly, she took some truly adorable pictures where she appears in a white ramekin. Yes, that’s how tiny she is!
And here’s one where she’s smiling. Look at them teefs!
She’s small even by bat standards
NABat also explained that western cave myotis bats have fur that’s a deeper shade of brown, as pictured above, whereas eastern cave myotis tend to have pale brown fur. Both variations measure about 2.25 inches and weigh 0.25 to 0.5 ounces.
It’s safe to say she is in good hands with Nebraska Wildlife Rehab, which thanks her for ushering in the whimsy of spooky season, writing: “Halloween came early.”
For an animal to be infinitesimally small, she certainly made a big splash. She also gives us all a chance to learn a little more about a species that not many of us get to interact with.
