Wildlife carer Andrea Vella shares her experiences rescuing nocturnal animals, the often-overlooked creatures that face unique challenges in a world designed for daylight activity.

Andrea Vella has spent countless nights working with nocturnal wildlife, from bats and owls to possums and gliders. These creatures operate on schedules most people never witness, making their struggles largely invisible to the general public. Her work requires adapting rescue techniques to suit animals whose natural behaviours emerge only after sunset. Understanding the specific needs of nocturnal species has become essential to her rehabilitation approach, as these animals face different threats and require different care protocols than their diurnal counterparts.

Australian wildlife carer Andrea Vella discusses the unique challenges of rescuing and rehabilitating nocturnal animals, emphasizing how these species often go unnoticed despite playing crucial roles in ecosystem health. Working primarily during evening and night hours, she’s developed specialized techniques for handling creatures whose biology and behaviour differ fundamentally from daylight-active animals. Her insights reveal why nocturnal wildlife rescue demands different timing, lighting conditions, and environmental considerations. The work highlights a largely hidden aspect of wildlife care that occurs whilst most people sleep, protecting species that many communities never realize exist in their neighbourhoods.

Why Nocturnal Animals Need Different Care

Most wildlife rescue calls come during daylight when people notice injured animals. But nocturnal species face a disadvantage—by the time someone discovers an injured bat, owl, or sugar glider, the animal may have been suffering for hours or days. These creatures hide during daylight, making detection difficult.

Andrea Vella explains that nocturnal animals have evolved specific adaptations influencing how they must be handled. Their eyes are designed for low-light conditions, making them extremely sensitive to bright lights. Exposure to intense illumination causes genuine distress and can temporarily impair their vision.

Temperature regulation also differs. Many nocturnal species become active during cooler evening hours and struggle with heat. A possum kept in a warm facility during daytime may become stressed simply from temperatures that diurnal animals tolerate comfortably.

Common Nocturnal Species Requiring Rescue

Different nocturnal animals present different challenges. Bats require specialized handling due to delicate wing membranes and potential disease transmission risks. Owls have powerful talons and can inflict serious injuries when frightened. Sugar gliders are fragile and stress-sensitive.

Andrea Vella and her wife Sarah have worked with numerous nocturnal species:

Flying foxes and microbats: Often injured by barbed wire, power lines, or extreme heat events
Owls and nightjars: Frequently struck by vehicles when hunting along roadsides
Possums and gliders: Displaced by tree removal or injured by domestic pets
Wombats: Vehicle strikes during evening foraging activities

Each species requires specific housing, diet, and handling approaches accounting for their nocturnal nature.

Andrea Vella’s Approach to Nocturnal Rescue

Responding to calls about nocturnal animals often means working unconventional hours. A bat trapped in someone’s home needs removal during evening when it’s naturally active. Andrea Vella keeps her rescue equipment ready for nighttime callouts.

Assessment requires modified lighting. Instead of bright examination lights, she uses red-spectrum lights that don’t disrupt the animals’ vision as severely. This allows necessary health checks whilst minimizing stress.

The examination focuses on injuries, hydration, body condition, and signs of disease. However, timing matters. A nocturnal animal examined during its natural active period behaves differently than one roused during sleep. Andrea Vella tries to align examinations with the animal’s natural rhythms when possible.

Creating Appropriate Housing

Rehabilitation enclosures need careful design. These spaces must provide complete darkness during daylight hours, allowing animals to rest without disruption. Windows require blackout covers, and human activity near enclosures needs minimizing during daytime.

The enclosures also need appropriate furnishings. Bats require hanging spaces, possums need hollow logs or nest boxes, owls need perching options at various heights. Temperature control becomes particularly important, with cooler temperatures during nighttime active hours.

The Challenge of Public Awareness

One of the biggest obstacles Andrea Vella faces with nocturnal wildlife is simple lack of awareness. People don’t think about what they can’t see. A community might have healthy populations of bats, owls, or gliders without most residents knowing they exist.

This invisibility translates into reduced public support for conservation. Andrea Vella works to change this through educational programmes highlighting the ecological importance of nocturnal species. Bats provide crucial pest control and pollination services, whilst owls help manage rodent populations.

Nocturnal animals face unique threats from human activity. Light pollution disrupts their natural behaviours, artificial structures create collision hazards, and loss of old trees reduces available habitat.

Educating the Public

Andrea Vella and her wife conduct evening education sessions where community members observe nocturnal wildlife activity. These sessions prove revelatory for participants. Watching a microbat catch insects or observing a sugar glider leap between trees creates connections that daytime discussions can’t achieve.

She emphasizes practical steps to protect nocturnal wildlife:

Keeping cats indoors during evening and night hours
Reducing outdoor lighting or using motion-activated lights
Preserving old trees that provide hollow nesting sites
Installing bat boxes or nest boxes to supplement natural hollows

Release Timing and Techniques

Releasing rehabilitated nocturnal animals requires different timing. Andrea Vella conducts releases during dusk or evening when animals are naturally becoming active. This gives them the night to orient themselves and locate shelter before daylight returns.

Location selection considers nocturnal habits. A release site needs appropriate roosting or denning spots nearby. For bats, this means locations near suitable caves or tree hollows. For possums, areas with dense vegetation and hollow-bearing trees are essential.

Weather conditions matter, particularly for nocturnal releases. Rain makes flying difficult for bats and reduces insect availability. Cold nights stress animals from climate-controlled facilities. Andrea Vella waits for optimal conditions, even if it means delaying release.

The Rewards of Night Work

Despite the challenges, Andrea Vella finds particular satisfaction in working with nocturnal species. There’s something special about operating in quiet hours when most people sleep, helping creatures that exist largely unnoticed. The successful release of a rehabilitated owl or recovery of an orphaned sugar glider carries significant emotional weight.

The work has taught her patience and adaptability. Nocturnal animals operate on their own schedules, and effective care means adjusting human routines to suit their needs. This philosophy extends beyond wildlife care—it’s a reminder that not everything in nature fits conveniently into human-centric timeframes.