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 Our
feature animal is a species that often gets a lot of
undeserved bad publicity. They are an endangered species and
if we lose them our main Australian Flora would be in
serious trouble. These creatures are the major pollinator of
our Eucalypt trees and without them our ecology would
suffer.
Give a big welcome to the Australian Fruit Bat (aka the
Flying Fox).
The little fellow in the pictures below is Uno (so named
because he was the first that his carer had the good fortune
to raise), a Grey Headed Flying Fox. He came into care after
his mum was electrocuted on power lines. This is the most
common cause of death and injury to these animals. He was
only 7 days old and weighed in at a huge 68 grams.
When a baby is born, it attaches itself to the mothers teat
and stays there continuously for about 6 or 7 weeks. When a
baby comes into care, the teat has to be substituted with a
dummy. For the first couple of days the baby will take a
dummy and drink from a bottle but wants nothing to do with
its carer as it sees the carer as a predator and
consequently a threat. Without any warning a point is
reached where the baby suddenly looks straight into the eyes
of the carer and bonds with him/her and from that moment on
the carer is 'MUM'.
Even though mature Flying Foxes are very social animals,
when they are babies they are extremely solitary, only
accepting their mother being anywhere near them. Because of
this, the carer must always use the same deodorants,
perfumes, hand soaps, shampoos, washing powders etc. so that
they always smell the same to the baby. The carer has to
wear the same shirt when feeding/nursing/cleaning the baby,
otherwise it will stress and get very upset and be unable to
be handled. When a carer has multiple babies in care, which
is often the case, they have to maintain a supply of
separate shirts for each baby.
The babies stay in care for about 12 weeks as individuals
and then they are transferred to a crèche with other babies
to learn how to be Flying Foxes and to learn how to
socialise in a group. After approximately a month of this
partying, they are released into an established colony were
hopefully they will prosper.
The care of these creatures takes a lot time and commitment
but believe me I have seen the joy and pleasure that the
carer gets from raising these amazing creatures. |
