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Just bats about Brucey

Tegan PhillipsThe Kimberley Echo
Baby Bruce the fruit bat.
Camera IconBaby Bruce the fruit bat. Credit: Picture: Kimberley Vet

Our creature feature this week is about little Brucey, a baby fruit bat.

We’ve done a few creature features on fruit bats before, but this little guy really tugged at our heartstrings and we thought he just had to be shared.

Brucey was found on Riverfarm Road by ... you guessed it, a lovely man named Bruce.

On his morning walk, he almost stepped on this little ball of brown fluff looking sad, cold and lonely. Big Bruce couldn’t help but help him.

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Bats, unfortunately, are not equipped with a pouch, and baby bats must rely on a strong grip and a gently flying mum to stay put.

This can be a hard task when you’re only a few days old, and your mum doesn’t come with a seatbelt.

So every so often, baby bats are accidentally dropped or fall from Mum.

Big Bruce picked up this little creature and gently placed him on a branch in hope Mum would return.

Very early the next morning, Bruce ran out in anticipation, but little Brucey was still there waiting.

Brucey was bundled up and brought to the clinic, and with a clean bill of health, he is now in the care of nurse Desanka, who couldn’t be happier with her new little baby.

These guys become very bonded to their carers, so Desanka has come up with some wonderful ways to make herself as bat-like as possible and hopes one day soon he can be released to re-join his colony.

Tegan Phillips is a veterinary nurse at Kimberley Vet.

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