Leslie Sturges, Bat Rehabilitator, A Real-Life Superhero (VIDEO)

She may not be a costumed crime-fighter, but for the animals in her home, Leslie Sturges is a superhero.

Sturges operates a wildlife rehabilitation center for bats in her northern Virginia home. As she explains in the video below from The Washington Post, bats aren't a nuisance for her. "I have a special affinity for things that other people tend to like the least," she says.

By day, Sturges, 50, is a park naturalist in Montgomery County, Maryland, the paper reports. But by night, she becomes a real-life Batwoman. In her temperature and humidity controlled basement rehabilitation center, Sturges uses a tweezers to feed the bats mealworms, and talks to them as they recover from various injuries.

In the video, she explains that she feels “a very strong need to be a voice for these animals” and “this is a way of doing it.”

Sturges is the director of Bat World NOVA, according to its website. The site also reports that she has been helping bats for nearly a decade, since attending Bat Boot Camp at Bat World Sanctuary. In the video, Sturges estimates that there are about 300 others in the U.S. who rehabilitate bats.

Bats have increased in popularity recently, as new studies have recently revealed how vampire bats detect blood and a plant that “talks back” to bats.

A deadly disease, white-nose syndrome, has killed over one million bats in the past five years, and experts predict that the current drought in Texas will have a drastic effect on local bat populations.

The UNEP announced 2011 as the Year of the Bat. To learn more about their conservation efforts, visit yearofthebat.org.

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Comments

[Debbie338]

01:11 PM on 08/11/2011

I know Leslie, and she is a wonderful person. One of a small number fighting for bats.

[20thCentury Man]

11:50 PM on 08/09/2011

A salute to all 300 bat rehabers active in the US.

[Susan Marlowe CPA]

08:58 PM on 08/09/2011

What a wonderful woman! I love the fact that she does this in her free time. So positive.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

08:21 PM on 08/09/2011

Thank you Leslie sturges, for your kindness to these special creatures

[shadow90]

06:01 PM on 08/09/2011

people always worry about cats and dogs and forget that there is a problem just as big as that with other animals. but its not their fault i didnt know about this till i got my pets and got involved in the community.
please if you ever get the chance to donate or volunteer see if anyone like this lady needs your help.

[shadow90]

06:01 PM on 08/09/2011

this is such a great story. i have many friends who either captures injured animals or rehabilitate them. there is a need for more people like this woman, i hope to be able to rescue and be more active in helping a certain exotic animal that i keep as a pet (i dont like saying what it is since there are to many people who would treat it like a hamster and kill it in less then 6 months, message me if you want to know what it is). but the 3 big rescues i know of for them have over 100 each one rescue even closed their doors because there were just to many of them. then there are lots of people who rescue as many as they can even if its just a few at a time. i hope to rescue another one next year to give them another friend.
so many people dont give animals the respect they deserve and just keep it around because its neat or pretty. when in reality they need a special diet that you have to make (just as cheap as buying from a petstore), yearly vet visits, toys and a big cage even though they are small, they also need to know people will lie to you (a certain big company) to get your money and end up killing the animal or having to get rid of it because its not the cool, kid friendly pet they told you it was.

[Duane Burnett]

05:55 PM on 08/09/2011

Bats are among the most intelligent animals on earth.