Every three hours, an alarm goes off in Rosemarie Curcio's house. It lets her know it's time to feed the pups. But these aren't the kind of pups you may be picturing; instead, they are baby bats, and at the moment, 10 of them live in a bat nursery in the basement of Curcio's Marietta home.

For more than 30 years, Curcio has been rescuing and rehabbing bats. "I've always been interested in wildlife," she said. Originally from New York, she volunteered at an animal rescue but didn't focus on bats until she spent time in bat boot camp at Bat World Sanctuary in Texas over two summers, and she found her true calling.

"So much focus is on the 'glamour' species that need help - the wolves, the bald eagles - bats are the ugly ones," she remarked. "I'm always for the underdog. I'm fascinated by bats."

She began caring for bats in her New York City apartment - without telling her landlord - and when she retired from teaching special education, she relocated to Marietta in 2009.

Her home's basement provided the perfect place to set up a bat sanctuary. Along with the nursery, the basement currently houses nine additional bats. Several are permanent residents because they are unable to fly, and most are big brown bats.

Curcio works with Raven Ridge Wildlife Center in Washington Boro, where she serves on the board as well. When a call comes in about a bat, it's forwarded to Curcio. Sometimes, she can advise the person on how to help on the spot. "I always tell people to wear gloves and use a towel if they are handling bats," she said, noting that bats can carry rabies. "Never touch a bat with bare hands."

If a bat appears to be injured or is too young to survive on its own, Curcio will take it in, with the goal of eventually releasing it into the wild. June is pup season, and after a few weeks of formula feeding, the pups will be ready to try flying. Curcio has several large tents set up in her basement for the bats to practice in. Once they are ready, she'll move them to a rescue in Chester County for outdoor enclosures and more flying opportunities before finally releasing them in a barn near the Pennsylvania and New Jersey border.

Curcio admits that her passion might disturb some people, but she emphasizes that bats play an important role in our ecosystem. "Bats are so important because they eat insects. They will consume mosquitoes," she stated. "Farmers should want them around because they eat beetles and other pests that attack crops."

Her round-the-clock care of the pups means she can never take a vacation during the summer, and she goes about two months without a full night's sleep, but Curcio doesn't see giving up her specialty anytime soon. What keeps her going? "Insanity," she said, with a laugh. "I just really love them. When you bring a pup home and you're able to see it do well and eventually be out on its own, that's what keeps you going."

If you find a bat that needs help, contact Raven Ridge at 717-808-2652.