Rescuing a baby flying-fox on the ground: this is Hopscotch
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- Опубліковано 28 гру 2023
- Hopscotch is an 8 week old Grey-Headed Flying-Fox who was found on the ground; at this age she is too heavy to still be carried by her mum, but she's quite skinny, so either she's an early flyer or her Mum has dropped her; I suspect the former.
When I rescue the little ones they're generally feisty, outraged and prepared to scream at you and try to scare you off, but this is just their adrenaline talking. When I get them home and the adrenaline wears off, their true condition becomes apparent as they run out of oomph.
Hopscotch is at the"out of oomph" stage. She's unhappy, in pain, squidgy and unwell. I worry that she will be dead every time I go to the incubator, but she's survived 24 hours and hasn't given up so I'm prepared to give her every chance of survival.
KOKO Hopscotch; keep on keeping on.
I considered the name Hopscotch as kind of suiting her; there is a Hopscotch cocktail with whiskey, ginger and pork scratching (??!!). Maggie and I decided that we'd (metaphorically) create our own Hopscotch cocktail; we decided that a proper Hopscotch would be Whiskey, butterscotch ice cream with a beer chaser (the Hops component). Sounds excruciatingly disgusting but we stand by our creation while we hope little Hopscotch manages to pull herself through her issues.
Tolga Bat Hospital takes donations for me. Tolga is an awesome place in Far North Queensland, which has charity status. By sending donations to them, they get a percentage (and deserve every cent) and they can allocate money to me for batty expenses without it becoming part of my income stream (which makes tax time difficult).
tolgabathospital.org/donate/
Mention Megabattie or Meg in the PayPal message box and the money will find its way to me.
If no message box appears, please email Jenny to tell her that the money is for me.
IMPORTANT: If you pay through the PayPal Giving Fund, can you please email Jenny with the AMOUNT DONATED and the name under which you have donated, OR just forward along the PP receipt.
The Giving Fund doesn’t charge any fees (so the bats get more money) but PP doesn’t itemise out the amount, they just send a total every month, and we don’t know if the money is for Tolga or for Megabattie.
Here’s Jenny’s email.
jenny@tolgabathospital.org - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
This lady is becoming world-famous for the great work in saving Australias wildlife.
Only saving bats; I don't have the time to diversify, or the space, or the will. Having too many different animals in care makes life a lot more complex with having to have so many things specific to other animals, all clogging up the fridge and all going off if you don't have any of those other animals for a while.
Hopscotch peeking up through the grass is just adorable.
Hang tough, baby Hopscotch. You're in great care.
I’m amazed at how many you all can save. Hope little hopscotch makes it.
Fingers crossed for Hopscotch!🤞 I hope she survives to fly free.
I pray that this chirpy little baby keeps fighting for her life and winning. Praying for her recovery and good news soon.
I also hope that the little one will not give up.
Come on Girl, keep fighting!
Keeping my fingers crossed for Hopscotch!
When babies don't fuss, that worries me; best wishes for this little precious baby.
I am hoping that Hopscotch keeps fighting. With some good nutrition and your great care...she will be a survivor! 😇❤️🖤🦇🖤❤️
I love the sound of this gorgeous baby!!, I hope she recovers as soon as possible
Poor little Hopscotch! But now she’s safe, fed and loved, with a chance to win her fight to stay alive. She sure went for the sugar gel!
I’m trying to not imagine something with a name like “pork scratching” in a cocktail.
Loved the chatty baby chirps in the beginning but hate to hear her getting quiet in the end, I hope she pushes through into a lively chatty baby bat!
Poor hungry Hopscotch , she really went for the glucose
Hopscotch is so tiny ! so beautiful and and adorable 🦇
She's such a big girl. She's 8 weeks old; the littlest ones fit in the palm of my hand.
Hope she does well and grows up to be a great mama several times 💖💖💖
Here's hoping Meg 🙏 🍁🦇🇨🇦
Fingers crossed for a survivor!
🤞🏻 for pretty girl Hopscotch. Keep on hanging in there, sweetheart! You’ve come this far. As Meg said, KOKO! ❤🦇❤️
Oh Hoppy please be a survivor we need you!!!
I hadn't realized until listening to this little one squeaking that I do hear these sounds at night here. I had assumed it was possums though Brush Tails don't sound like this and there aren't Ringtails' that I have seen. Funny that I hadn't noticed that until now despite hearing a lot of bats on this channel. I do see dark shapes flying at night so it is logical. Lovely creatures and a good thing I never see them in trouble on the ground.
the baby sounds will only be in Spring and early Summer.
I'm happy Hopscotch has Owl and beak to hold onto if she needs that.🩶🦇🦉🤗💕💕 She's so beautiful, thank you Meg for saving her and thanks to the caring MOP's.👍🥰
Poor, sweet little one...
Dear Meg, thanks so much for your job. I wish you a new year plenty of happy rescuses. Great hugs from Poland.🤗❤️
Thanks Liliana
@@Megabattie I'm still thinking about you and your great heart. I wish you a very happy and successful New Year.🤗❤️😘
I pray for Hopscotch ❤
Hopscotch, my sweethart fight ❤❤❤
'Owl' has emerged as the flying fox number one.
Anybody anywhere if you see 'Owl' in a charity shop, you know where to send him!
I'll be watching out.
Excellent; I can't find them online at retail anywhere. I can find them at exorbitant prices like they are collectors' items but not at the price I originally paid.
I couldn't do this job. I've always been fascinated by bats, any bats, and would get way too attached to let them go when I needed to. Kudos to you for having the bravery and conviction to do what is best for the animals.
When I first started, I loved my first baby so much I didn't know how I would ever let him go; my mentor said, don't worry, by the time he's ready to go you'll be glad to see the back of him.
AND I WAS.
He was climbing the bookshelves and peeing on the books, flapping all night, playing on the airer close to my bed (I have a small apartment), trying to climb the fan on the hottest night of the year, so I had to turn it off or risk him losing his thumbs to the spinning blades. He practiced flying and belly flopped onto the pooey newspaper under the airer, then dragged himself across the carpet.
I was glad to see him go to creche.
@@Megabattie 🤣
I think there are many different kinds of people who do wildlife rescue, for many different reasons... I joined wildlife rescue for the wrong reasons (or maybe I joined for the right reasons with the wrong expectations).
I had spent an awful lot of time in hospital over a long period and when I started to get a life afterwards, I was looking for something or someone to love. I wanted to get a pet but I spent so much time in hospital that it was difficult. So when things started to improve, I wrote a book, moved house (to an apartment), settled in there and got a cockatiel. She was such a daily part of my life (and only died a few months ago aged 21); I was at the vet with her when she had an eye infection, and a wildlife carer came into reception to pick up a crested pigeon chick, and it was just so adorably sweet that I thought: I could do that.
I didn't have a lot of money so I asked the vet nurse how did it work and who was responsible for the vet bills and whatever; she said: you have to join a wildlife group and some pay the vet bills and some vets do it for free and some charge wildlife rates, and some charge full rates. But that I needed to join a wildlife rescue group. So I did.
I wanted to do parrot chicks because I thought they were the most adorably intelligent and interactive birds ever.
The vet said I shouldn't do birds because my birds could get sick from wild birds in care, and that maybe I should do possum joeys and raise them for release. I'd never thought about that, so I joined to raise possum joeys who are absolutely adorably cute.
At the basic rescue course which was a few months away (only run in winter because that's the wildlife carers' downtime/quiet time usually).
So at the basic rescue course I learned that possum joeys, though cute, need to be raised without bonding to their human carer; it's better to cover their eyes when you feed them so they don't see humans as a source of comfort and food. You don't play with them, treat them like babies and love and coddle them or talk to them; you feed them, clean them up, and put them back. Possums are solitary creatures and leave their mums when they're old enough, so they can find a mate and territory.
The next section of the rescue course was on bats; bats are colony animals; they are with their mums for 3 months; they are in a colony so they need social skills and need to learn to interact with the other bats in a social situation. THeir mums are really tactile and loving and they spend a month hanging on her 24/7 until they're too big for her to carry around anymore in flight. They spend another month hanging on her but also interacting with the colony babies and juvies. Then they're a little more independent; she feeds them until they're around 4 months old, by which time she's usually pregnant again and needs to keep her nutrition for herself and her growing foetus.
She weans them by just refusing to open the milk bar, or not coming back.
It seems she keeps closer to her daughters than her sons, who go their own way earlier.
With baby bats, you're allowed to love them, in fact, you HAVE to love them; you have to talk with them, make eye contact, be very tactile with them (like their mother is). You have to hang them on you and pretend they're your baby. You have to interact, otherwise it's like a human child who is put in a room, not spoken to and has no eye contact; just fed, changed and left alone. The batties NEED the social and emotional interaction.
I was hooked; I wanted to raise babies for my own needs; l LEARNED to raise them for their needs but in the beginning I didn't understand that their emotional and social needs trump my need for love and interaction. It's about them, not me.
Once you end up with that mindset, you sail through it.
@@dnalia64
@@Megabattie Thanks for taking the time to explain.
@Megabattie Wow, thank you for sharing your story with us.
I was curious about how you came to rescuing bats, but I didn't want to intrude on your personal space/life.
I hope whatever caused your hospital stay has gone, and you are better now.
May I ask the name of your book, I would love to read it if I can find it in my local library.
Take care Meg, and thank you for everything you do for the bats.
Tobius 🙂
She is so beautiful 😍 best wishes for a speedy recovery little love. You are in the best hands ❤❤❤
Good luck Hopscotch ❤
You always have a great sense of naming things.
Hopscotch, I hope you grow up healthy❤🩹
Poor little baby!!❤️🦇🇨🇦
She seems to have a good appetite for glucose gel and yogurt. I hope that bodes well for her survival. Brave and desperate of her to try to fly out at such a young age. Her wings don't look big enough to support her.
I expect she would have been desperate; it took 36 hours before she did a wee - she must have been without her mum for a while.
Good luck to little Hopscotch that she pulls through and puts on the grams
🙏🤞❤️🦇❤️
The new Hopscotch recipe sounds interesting. Most of cocktail seems tasty, the beer well it'll be a required taster to enjoy the bitter side of things....
I am exclusive to Bubbles, which means I can create drinks with no actual regard for the taste.
Aww little sweetie. I hope she does well. ❤
Another pretty little fighter girl, hope she has staying power dialed up to maximum.
No ads? I spoke too soon; they were in the middle of the video.
Best wishes for a happy outcome for little Hopscotch. She’s cute, and so little.
Would a head injury cause her eye to shut?
Regarding the drinks, both sound revolting, but I don’t like beer or whiskey. We had more bubbly last night to celebrate my nephew’s birthday. Yay for more bubbly! It’s a rare treat for me, except at the end of December. Fingers crossed for a survivor. ❤
Yes, quite; the M&M Hopscotch creation sounds completely ghastly; fortunately I am bubbles exclusive, so I'm not required to sample this.
Healing owl is always ready for little bats🦉💖🦇
I hope she makes it. Thankyou Meg for another vid of a great rescue. I appreciate your hardwork dedication and love towards these animals in need.
those MOPs might be the future batty carers.
What is MOP an acronym for?
@@MerchantOfClicks member of the public.
@@ravinhud4979 ahhh, thanks! that's not a pejorative, is it?
@MerchantOfClicks Not at all, it's just shorter than having to type it all out! I love that you cared enough to ask!
I can’t imagine what would happen to all these fruit bats, without you. I didn’t think you would have so many in distress. 😮😢
Some would die; many would die, and my batty friends would rescue the others.
We rely on a MOP to let us know where they are so we can bring them into care
Thank you so much for all your work and love with those little once and a Happy New Year to you and colleges and all bats 🥰🥰🥰
We need to buy Mega more owls!
I tried to buy some more but Ikea didn't have any.
Hope she is a surviver. Please keep us updated if possible.
Roxanne; you know I keep you updated as much as I can.
Hopscotch is a cutie
Hopscotch has the best chances possible of making it, thanks to your expert love and attention. Keeping fingers crossed that the future updates will carry good news. Happy and healthy 2024, Meg and team.🎉😊🙏🍾🍾🍾
She's doing well, I just didn't have her update edited in time to put up today
Heureusement qu'il y a des gens comme vous pour s'occuper de ces animaux en souffrance, félicitations pour votre engagement !
Merci
They are so lovely.
Fingers crossed she fights through and goes onto the happy endings list! 🤞
Maybe with some TLC she'll recover. Fingers crossed!
THEY ARE BLESSED TO HAVE YOU ....NICE WORK
I'm lucky to have them in my life.
What a cutie😊
Well she is beautiful and very talkative! And in good hands!
Wishing you a Happy and healthy New Year, from Phoenix, AZ, USA. ❤🎉
My favorite cocktail is called a rusty nail..Scotch and Drambuie ..like liquid gold. 🍹
A Scotch and Scotch flavoured with heather honey, herbs and spices cocktail then?
Magnifico!!
Happy New Year Meg. Lots of love from Elm, Cape Town, South Africa. 🤗💜🦇🦇🦇💐🐞🦋
Thanks Elm
❤🎉😊❤
Wow, she was quite chatty, wasn't she? She's got such a beautiful face.
Then she went completely quiet and only yesterday before I moved her to a carer with a buddy for her, did she talk with me again. Just a few little chirps at me when I asked her some questions.
@Megabattie On average, how many bats do you take care of at your home in total? Or the highest amount you've taken care of before?
😀
Just love that chirping sound. I get that some locals find it annoying. Speaking of locals, do they have regulation shoes Down Under?
Regulation shoes?
@@Megabattie LOL I mean shoes with, you know, maybe soles and tops that cover the toes and arch … perhaps with laces or smart looking buckles.
I'm still not sure what you're saying; do you mean is there a great Aussie shoe which is like a uniform, or do I need to wear regulation shoes at rescue - for PPE? @@FrankPSF
A popular drink in the US is bacon infused bourbon. In bars you can see chunks of bacon soaking in the bottles of bourbon. Looks disgusting.
I'm exclusive to Champagne.
Such a cute baby. ❤❤❤❤ How often have do you feed them? And always a good job. Thx a lot.
Depends on their age; the newborns are fed 6 times a day, down to 5 from about 10-14 days old. The older ones, 4 milk feeds a day plus fruit to which they they will help themselves.
Out of curiosity how long after rescue do they get their first bottle?
Depends on the bat; she's a big girl and they often won't take a bottle at this age. It also depends on when they do a wee. I don't like to feed then until they have passed urine.
Hopscotch took nearly 36 hours to pass urine; she's been fed yogurt and some juice but falls asleep before she's had very much. We'll work up to a bottle or more yogurt feeds as she is able.
🦇😍🙏