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Frank Black Middle School student Andrew Mitchell was riding his bike with friends after the winter storm when he saw a lot of dark splotches along the bayou and the bike path underneath the Watonga Boulevard bridge. He knew thatâs where the bats lived.
âAt first I thought (they) were sleeping on the ground,â Mitchell said.
When he got closer, Mitchell realized most of the bats were dead.
As with other wildlife in Southeast Texas, the recent freezing weather proved deadly. Along with the Waugh bat colony, the Watonga colony was hard hit by the record low temperatures.
Oak Forestâs Amanda Massingill had avoided the Watonga area for a few days after seeing Buffalo Bayou Partnership s post asking people to stay away from the Waugh bridge.
February 26, 2021
John Flesher & Jamie Stengle
DALLAS (AP) As many people in the southern United States (US) hosted neighbours who had no heat or water during the vicious February storm and deep freeze, Kate Rugroden provided a refuge for shell-shocked bats.
Starving and disoriented, the winged mammals tumbled to the snow-coated ground as temperatures plunged to levels rarely seen in the region.
“They burned through their energy reserves as they tried to wake up and get away from the cold and ice,” said Rugroden, of Arlington, Texas, one of rehabilitation specialists nursing stranded bats plucked up by sympathetic people.
“And there aren’t any insects out there for them to eat yet.”
The Waugh Bridge Bat Colony Took a Hit During the Winter Storm houstoniamag.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from houstoniamag.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.