From Italy: The Story of an Orphan Bat

Italians love their bats, especially in the summer when mosquitoes are plentiful. One bat can consume 10,000 insects in a single night, of which approximately 2,000 will be mosquitoes, so in the warm months in Italy, bat nesting boxes fly off the shelves as people try to encourage these mammals to move in and spare them sleepless nights in a eco-friendly manner.

It is no wonder then, that naturalist AlessandraTomassini and journalist Marco D’Amico at the Italian League for Bird Protection’s Rome Wildlife Rescue Centre and their Mediterranean Habitat Centre in Ostia, produced a documentary about the story of Divo, a baby Pipistrellus kuhlii orVesper bat that Alessandra took in under her care.

Divo is an orphan, and his story is followed from the moment he falls out of his nursery until he is released back into the wild. Alessandra Tomassini is one of Italy’s leading chiroptera experts, and she looks after little Divo through each stage
of his growth. She uses an innovative technique to suckle him as naturally as possible, rather than using an invasive feeding tube. Divo soon finds his feet and then his wings and is ready to be released back into the wild.

This film uses attractive modern graphics to give expert advice on what to do if you find a stray bat and provides a wealth of information through its fascinating storyline. The film allows viewers to discover this much-maligned animal, the bat, better, debunking all the old wives’ tales that surround it.

This scientific and fascinating DVD documentary is a valuable chance to get to know and love these fantastic animals better and respect them more! For more information, visit: www.pipistrellus.it , English translated: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.pipistrellus.it/&ei=Et8QT5bhL-WiiQKtlLyhDQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCYQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwww.pipistrellus.it%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1192%26bih%3D490%26site%3Dwebhp%26prmd%3Dimvns .