A few years ago, I (with my family) ran a video shop and mixed business. I used to arrive fairly early each day to accept deliveries from the milkman and baker. However one day, I arrived at work ready to unlock the front door, and a found a parcel leaning up against it. It was wriggling, and as I watched, a head popped out. The parcel turned out to be very insecurely fastened…..and I rushed inside to find a tea towel, a towel, anything I could use to secure this creature before it wreaked havoc. I didn’t really know what it was. By the time I returned, I had an audience…..the baker had arrived, and he was wisely standing back…..the creature had wriggled further out, and there was a wing free now. On the end of the wing was a huge talon (called a thumb, and roughly equivalent to ours), and the head was absolutely beautiful…..like a miniature fox. I had seen enough to work out it was a flying fox, or fruit bat. I had no idea which variety, there are several that we find in our area at the appropriate times of the year. They are not aggressive creatures but this was not a happy camper, so would be likely to cause problems. I was able to throw the towel over the critter and manage to contain him before he harassed the baker…..or any customer that came in.
I left the baker in charge of the shop, and rushed next door to the vets…very convenient place for the vets to be….and borrowed a pet carrier. I didn’t know much about fruit bats, but I knew it would need to be hanging upside down, so it would go to sleep until I could work out what on earth was going on with it. They are nocturnal, and many of them fly into barb wire fences, damaging their wings. So I managed to get it into the pet carrier, and get its feet to hang onto the lid, which I then secured, leaving the creature hanging upside down, wings wrapped round its body and looking much happier. I felt happier too, because it meant it was confined to barracks and could be attended to in due course.
I put the carrier and contents out the back of the shop and covered the whole kit and kaboodle with the towel, so it was in the dark, while I attended to the baker, and thanked him for his patience. After he was gone, I had a quick look at my charge. There appeared to be a tear in his wing, which consisted of a leathery membrane, but it didn’t appear to be a huge one. I thought the best thing to do was to ring the flying fox/bat lady, in Mudgee, so I managed to get onto her and discuss the problem. She thought he would be worth a chance, and asked could I get him up to her, so I said I would see if I could find someone going up her way. (I had some very co-operative customers at times….)
About half an hour later, a customer and her young son came in for a video. In the course of conversation, she mentioned her husband was going to Mudgee later, so I explained my problem, and she volunteered the poor man. We arranged that he should drop the animal at the vets up there, and the carer would pick him up. In due course her hubby turned up, looking rather worried. I think he had thoughts of vampire bats hanging off his throat as he drove along. I assured him that one……it was safely secured in the pet carrier, and two…..it ate fruit, and drank a bit of nectar from flowers, not blood. He put the carrier in the back seat of the car and off he went.
In due course he returned, and told me he had made the delivery. Shortly after that I received a phone call from the “Bat Lady” telling me it was a juvenile Grey Headed flying fox, and she thought it had a good prognosis, but would take a while to recover. I was just pleased it was in good hands, because I really had no clue what to do with it apart from getting it to hang upside down….
I heard some time later that he was released. He had been taken to a “creche” and introduced to some other young flying foxes, and they had been released together.
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