How to care for an hurt bat?

get a cardboard box, and put some folded up towelling in there, so there's folds it can snuggle into. put something like a jar lid with a little water in it in one corner where it can easily access it, and put some warm water into a bottle and wedge it against one side of the box so it has a source of warmth that it can either go closer to or further from depending how it feels.

then contact a local bat group. I know in the UK there is a 24hr helpline you can contact for advice and contact details for a local group. I'm not sure about the US, but have a look online to find an equivalent charity or group.

bats in the US may carry rabies, so wear gardening gloves while handling the animal, and keep this as little as possible to avoid stress for them.

how badly damaged is the wing? and do they appear to have any broken bones?

hopefully you should be able to quickly contact someone who can take the bat off your hands to care for them, as they are difficult to captive feed. for most species, mealworms are a good option. live ones, offered in tweezers. but ideally an experienced handler will be with you as soon as possible.

best of luck.

You should keep it In a bird cage with news paper on the bottom. Feed it live crickets(you can buy at the petstore)try to put it in a cat carrier and bring it to the vet so it's wing can be fixed. You should feed it the crickets from your hand as it won't be able to catch them.

You might try a bat forum for how to care for him and help him mend. Two follow although I noticed the second one has a few spam Qs that slipped by the moderators.

http://www.bathouseforum.org/forum/

http://www.batmanagement.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl

Regarding diet, it depends upon which species of bat you have as not all bats eat insects. The following sites may help identify your little one if you are unsure:

http://www.batcon.org/index.php/all-about-bats/spe...

http://www.about-bats.com/types-of-bats.html

There is a bat rehabilitation site that has a list of rehab centers if you decide to go that route. The link is as follows:

http://www.batworld.org/local-rescue/

How wonderful to read of someone not scared of bats and willing to take the time to help one in need. We recently had one come into our house via the chimney, and they are adorable in my opinion. Yay to you for being such a kind soul.

Someone mentioned rabies and US bats. Just to ease your worries, less than 1/2 of 1% of bats contract rabies. BatWorld eplains as follows:

"Bats are mammals and all mammals can contract rabies, however bats don’t naturally ‘carry’ the disease. In reality, bats catch rabies far less than other animals. Less than 1/2 of 1% of all bats may contract the disease. A variety of mammals can catch rabies, including foxes, skunks, raccoons, coyotes, bats, foxes, cats and dogs and even livestock."

http://www.batworld.org/rabies-info/