Lara found a little dead bat at the back of our building yesterday, and asked me to come and check it out, so we went to have a closer look and it was a cute little native Australian Goulds Wattled Bat (we Googled it) almost the size of my finger. It had obviously got in over the weekend and hadn't been able to find it's way out again, and I was sad we hadn't found it sooner. So I went to get some paper towel to pick it up.
Then Larz said "I think it's breathing!" and lo, it was! Though he (once we discovered it was alive, it ceased being 'it' and became 'he') wasn't in a very good way. Who knew how long he'd been stuck inside with no water!!
I picked him up (Larz followed at a bit of a distance) and took him to the studio where I very carefully gave him a drink from a plastic lid. He was so thirsty and drank what seemed to be heaps for a tiny bat.
We found a wildlife rescue number online and gave them a call but they just said to take it to the nearest Vet. I'd done this for an injured bird once before and they put it to sleep, so I wasn't very keen on that idea. That didn't matter because very shortly after this, he perked right up and started looking around and blinking at us! Hooray!
He had the cutest lil face
We thought we should get a pic for the blog, Larz got the camera and I uncovered him a little and - duh! - he took off flying around the office!! Poor Larz squealed and hit the deck, I told her to get under her desk while we waited for him to land, but he flew out the office door and in to the printing room and did laps around and around while I opened windows and waited for him to fly away or land.
He did finally land, so I picked him up and put him in a box with some fabric to hide in and some more water - they poor little guy was terrified. We were going to let him outside, but it was the middle of the day, so we ended up leaving him safe and sound in the box until evening. They're nocturnal, after all.
And the sharpest lil teeth!
By six, we were wanting to go home and so I took our little friend out to the balcony so he could fly away, but he must have decided he liked it at I&S and wouldn't go! I ended up leaving him snuggled into his bit of fabric, so he could head off when he felt like it - and he was gone the next morning :)
I love a happy ending. And Larz loves having a bat-free environment again. It's just lucky Bee wasn't there - both girls are scared of moths, imagine them with a bat loose in the studio!!
18 comments:
Oh! That is a happy story. You saved a little baby.
I have a bit of a fondness for bats, looks like you do too! They eat tons of mosquitos! Might there a bat theme design in the works?
Crazy! So cute though! Who needs a studio puppy when you can have a studio bat? (just kidding... a bit)
He's super-cute... till he opened his mouth, and then he got a little scary.
Love the teeth photo - scary! I'm glad to hear of other people who are scared of moths, too. Makes me feel less silly.
oh how cute!
So cute even if his teeth look super sharp. When I first started reading I was so worried that he'd be dead and that the story would end sadly but I'm glad everything worked out!
That is the sweetest little story. I am so glad you saved him! Yay for Mr. Bat!
Oh my gosh. I wasn't scared of bats until that second photo, yikes!
How cute! Good job nursing him back to health. I'd feel like I was his mommy if i did that, lol!
You actually stopped to take pictures of it? :)
I love those pics * so glad he made it out safely!!!!!!
We had one in our bedroom last summer, and I grabbed a tennis racket and a net - I laughed and laughed while my husband caught him and the dogs jumped and barked like mad!!
http://www.cdc.gov/RABIES/bats.html
Thanks everyone! We definitely felt like it was good karma, we were so happy we could rescue him :)
But for those who were scared of the poor little guy, they only grow to be 7cm long and 14g in weight! He was the scared one.
To Anon, I assume you are from the Northern Hemisphere somewhere, because we don't have Rabies in Australia, so you don't have to worry about our health, though we are touched by your concern.
i was thinking how cute until i saw his teeth! nice storywriting :-)
what a great story. I love the picture with the teeth showing!
Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! You're so brave!!!!!!
Yaay girls. Well done! I love it that you gave him time to recover and fly away when he was ready. Huzzah for you! blessings from a fellow animal lover!
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