Hugo is an orphan Grey-Headed Flying-Fox who was found on his mother's body by a passing member of public (MOP).
Hugo is 4 weeks old. He doesn't seem to have any burns so I don't know if mum came off powerlines or was maybe hit by a car. It's a very narrow street area so the car scenario is unlikely. I also couldn't find any obvious burns on his mum.
He's actually doing really well and is a funny little character. He's curious, he's alert and he is very watchful, and he's not afraid to define his boundaries. He can be quite cranky.
And he's not a dummy boy, and spits it quite quickly.
Sadly he's going to another carer to be raised until creche, so I will lose the pleasure of his adorable and very active company.
When the hand raised babies are 3 months old, they go into a creche, where they join other orphans and form a group. They learn batty etiquette and how to live in a batty society.They shrug off their human mums and want to be with the other batties. When they are emotionally and physically ready, and uninjured, and around 4-5 months old, they’re put into a release cage under a colony and they can integrate into the colony and fly out with the wild bats. If they can’t find enough food, they can always come back to the cage for a feed. Support feeding is put up on the outside of the cage for as long as they are coming back and eating it. When the colony flies out for winter, they have fully integrated and fly out with them.
