One of the rescued bats found at the rink, left, and one of the bats seen in better health later.(Submitted photos/Dave Pentecost and Dawn Erker)

By Angela Brown

Bat rescue

Hundreds of bats get a new lease on life after removal from Unity rink

Feb 18, 2021 | 4:49 PM

A Cut Knife bat removal service provider had a surprise earlier this month when he discovered an extremely large colony of bats at the Unity curling rink.

DTS Roofing and Bat Services Ltd. owner Dave Pentecost told battlefordsNOW he was contacted in early February by the Town of Unity to remove the bats found in the building that was planned for renovations.

When they visited the site, Pentecost and his son Seth located and collected hundreds of the critters from the attic. Over 380 bats were found in less than 1,000 sq. ft. of space.

Pentecost is still discovering more throughout the roof of the 10,400 sq. ft. building.

“We’re finding a lot up of them up here. Some have injuries; some were underweight,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing we found them.”

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Pentecost said he saw about 700 bats in total over the weeks since he started working there.

He estimates this is one of the top five colonies he has seen in his work over the years.

And he is glad he can help.

“They are sky puppies. We need them for our ecosystem” he said. “Without the bats, the farmers and everybody would be in a lot of trouble because they eat a lot of insects. They are very important to all of us.“

Pentecost delivered the bats to Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation in Saskatoon, so the organization could take care of them; re-hydrate them, increase their weight and put them back into hibernation again.

Jan Shadick, executive director of Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation, and her team of volunteers have been looking after the bats since.

In the first week they processed two large tub of bats.

Shadick said they received 386 bats in the first delivery.

“Unfortunately, the stress of transport meant some did not make it,” she told battlefordsNOW. “We ended up with 323 bats to take care of… We were about to put a large number back into hibernation.”

More bats are still coming.

One volunteer has been able to keep some of the bats in her basement since she can control the temperature to be around 10 degrees, so they can return to hibernation for the winter.

Shadick said the organization and the volunteers appreciate being able to help with the bats.

“We love them because they keep the mosquito population down and are a benefit for agriculture as well,” she said.

“Too many people are afraid of them,” Shadick added. “I’m a big believer in that we protect what we love and we love what we know. So the more we can get people to know [about] bats, and recognize that they are adorable little flying teddy bears, would be absolutely fantastic.”

Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation is a non-profit organization. Donations are always welcome if anyone wants to help with feeding costs for the bats.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW