AN injured baby bat was rescued by a Kendal woman after it fell from the guttering of her home.

Sarah Weldon assumed the tiny creature was a leaf or rubbish blown in from the garden when she spotted it on her kitchen floor.

“When I picked it up I realised it was a small bat – at first I thought it was dead, but when I looked closer it was still breathing," she said.

It is likely that the bat, now identified as a common pipistrelle, fell from the guttering of Sarah’s house and was brought in by her cat.

The baby bat was relatively unhurt apart from lost skin on the corner of its wing, which should heal.

Said Sarah: “I put it in a mixing bowl and then put in a milk bottle top full of water, which seemed to revive it slightly.

“I contacted the Bat Conservation Trust and a lovely local lady came along looked at the bat and has now taken it away to hand rear.”

The youngster will now be raised on puppy milk until it is ready to be released – in the wild it would be on its mother’s milk and is not on solids yet.

Sarah is now appealing for people to get involved with the Bat Conservation Trust.

She said: “It was really interesting to know more about bats in Kendal and the work of the local volunteers, and it turns out there are loads of ways that people can get involved locally with bat walks, conservation

“It would be great if people wanted to donate formula milk and unpasteurised goat's milk to the trust - volunteers have to buy this themselves, which seems a shame.”

According to the Bat Conservation Trust, any bat that is found on the ground, or in an exposed area, especially during the day, is likely to need help.

If the bat is on the ground, on an outside wall, or in an exposed area where it may be vulnerable, it should be contained in a box and people should call the Bat Helpline 0345 1300 228 for further advice.

Find out more at http://www.bats.org.uk/index.php.