Rescuing a baby flying-fox on his electrocuted mumbat; this is Saltash

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Saltash is an 11 day old Grey-Headed Flying-Fox pup who was noticed by a lovely MOP, when he was moving around on his mum in the gutter under powerlines.
She came back and waited nearby until I arrived to protect him from any dangers.

I won’t say that Saltash (Salt Ash from the street) is doing well, because he was quite squidgy at rescue, with slitted and squinty little miserable eyes; he’s cold but not freezingly cold, and just not at all well. If you look at him you can see how unwell he looks.
I suspect he has internal burns; if he was on his mumbat’s left side, when the shock went through, it would have gone through him as well.

I don’t know whether I should be encouraging him to hang on and fight, or to just let him go if he needs to; I can’t euthanase him just on how I feel, so I’ll give him 24 hours and make a decision.

Tolga Bat Hospital takes donations for our batties. 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).
https://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.
[email protected]

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47 thoughts on “Rescuing a baby flying-fox on his electrocuted mumbat; this is Saltash”

  8. Poor, sweet little Saltash.❤ Maggie will come and feed you tomorrow – or soon.
    Too bad the power company doesn't erect the power lines farther apart so that bats don't get electrocuted. 😢

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  14. Pobrecito, perder a mamá tan pequeño. La verdad es que es muy guapo. Espero que se recupere pronto y sea muy activo. A mí no me gustaban l@s murciélagos, por todas las historias de que son Vampiros y matan personas. Gracias a Ustedes he aprendido que son animales importantes para la naturaleza. Y ahora les tengo más aprecio y respeto. Algun@s son muy guap@s.

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  17. All you do is beautiful. Heartwarming, sad, emotional rollercoster~ Bless you and your batty heart Meg❤! Future name suggestion? Gotham- because no one will refuse assisting you when you say “Gotham needs you!” Because, we all need Bat-man!

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  21. Rescuing critters is a lot of hard work.
    Along with the joy when the rescued one survives and thrives, there comes the sorrow when the rescue fails.
    May your heart be at peace, Ms.Meg. And may the baby be gifted with the best and kindest possible outcome.

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  31. Why do humans have to ruin everything ? There are a lot of fruit bats out there in Australia so why can't they do something to the power lines like maybe cover them with something so that the bats and other animals don't get electrocuted?? I feel like this is a tragedy that could be prevented.😡
    Seeing the poor mum made me cry.

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  32. Im hoping the lil guy is just stunned from the fall and laying in the cold and didnt suffer a major shock. Does he have any surface or contact burns where the electricity may have entered? Im hoping that even if the electricity travelled through him it didnt ground out in him, maybe mom insulated him or because it was head and wing he avoided internal burns. I once took 90 volts to the face. It wasnt a dangerous level but it still felt like getting hit with a baseball bat. This stuff makes me sad. I mean, predation is one thing. Life eats life and some beings die and become food so others may live. But this kind of stuff is just senseless death. I wish theyd bury all power lines. Ive seen too many dead and shocked birds and climbing animals in my life.

    Heres hoping the lil guy makes it.

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  40. Poor little fella. Just donated $100 AUD but didn't see anywhere to mention your name, so not sure how else to direct it after payment made. Does PP show the email of the sender?
    Heh, it's deffo gone from my bank though! 😏

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  47. I've been noticing recently, that a lot of people have become more caring of bats as in years prior. Mops are wonderful eyes and ears to carers. I'm sorry for mom losing her life. I know you will do the very best for little Saltash.

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