ROSEVILLE, Minnesota — When Mark Fischer started renovating his lake home in Miltona, he expected to find a couple bats.
"Last week we started reinsulating our ceiling because I found out my insulating contractor when we built the house 16 years ago didn't do a very good job. So we knew we had a couple of bats that came in this year," said Fischer, who is based in Chanhassen. "We were trying to find holes and just reinsulate in it and we started tearing off part of the roof."
That's when they started finding the bats in the insulation.
"Once we got past 35, I started getting a little worried. Then when we hit 60... I started making phone calls," Fischer said.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) suggested he reach out to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota (WRC) in Roseville.
What followed was a more than two-hour car trip from Miltona to Roseville, with Fischer bundled up in order to keep the temperature cold enough so the bats would not wake. He estimates he kept the temperature in his vehicle around 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
"You get kind of cold. It's like, 'Oh, should I turn up the heat?' No, because I kind of had a flashback of Batman movies and with all the bats flying around... said, 'No, we'll just keep it cold,'" Fischer said, laughing.
WRC staff veterinarian Rachel Owens helped examine all 60 of the big brown bats that came to the nonprofit last Wednesday.
"The client who brought them did a wonderful job keeping them as cold as they could and all that but even with that, they still woke up, burned more calories than they should," Owens said.
In order to re-enter hibernation, Owens said they are on a feeding program to fatten them up.
Volunteers are feeding the bats mealworms, something that requires a bit of training as it's different than their typical diet. While the bats are healthy, they also need medication to help manage their stress in the new environment.
Owens predicts it will take a few weeks to get them back into hibernation.
"We're putting weight back on them so they can go back in to our hibernaculum which is a retrofitted wine cooler," Owens said.
In a couple months when there are enough insects flying around, WRC staff will release them near where they were found in Miltona.
Fischer said he went to great lengths to save them because, "Bats are important to the environment. Up at the lake... I know we have raw mosquitoes and and it's great to have them up there... they're just an important part of the environment and I just couldn't see 60 of them going away."
Owens added, "The time he was able to take for this was incredible and it makes me feel very happy about my job because of all the people out there who are willing to care and help these animals."
Owens said if anyone finds bats in their home, they should not release them. Instead call WRC or another wildlife rehab organization. You can also find more information, here.
Owens stressed how important donations are for WRC to help them care for all types of species. According to WRC, 2023 was the second busiest in its 44-year history with the center admitting 18,808 patients.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.