A teeny tiny baby short-tailed fruit bat at Bat World Sanctuary in Weatherford, Texas, who was temporarily abandoned by his mother during a stressful rescue, sucked hungrily upon a cotton swab that contained a nutritious meal. The caretaker who was hand feeding the little chiropteran was really pleased to feel his little tummy grow with each mouthful. The organization is hand-raising this bat until he’s old enough to join the colony.
This baby was born to one of the 50 short-tailed fruit bats we rescued from the now-closed OBC (where we rescued 90 bats of different species all together). Unfortunately the stress of the transfer caused his mother to abandon him (a common behavior in bats who are unsure of their new surroundings). We are hand-raising her baby until he is old enough to be neutered and rejoin his mom and the rest of the colony. … This species is not native to the US so he is not releasable and will be given lifetime care with us. We neuter males because if they were allowed to reproduce we would run out of room and have to turn away other non-releasable bats in need of permanent sanctuary.
