Rescuing a baby flying-fox hanging alone; this is Skeleton Key
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ม.ค. 2024
- Skeleton Key is a 10 week Grey-Headed Flying-Fox who was noticed hanging alone, low in a tree in a suburban backyard a few hundred metres from the local colony.
She put up no struggle, apart from a scream of outrage and pain when I was looking at her. The MOPs were very interested and asked a lot of questions.
Skeleton Key is very skinny; she's 122 grams underweight, is weak in her legs and is very quiet. I'm not sure what's going on with her but it's more than just being skinny; she's quite squidgy.
Sometimes her legs are weak and sometimes she uses them well; sometimes one eye looks "wrong" (that's a technical term for I have no idea what's going on) and sometimes it's just fine.
Only time will tell what her issue is if she even survives overnight. She's not peeing, despite being given a more than respectable amount of sc fluids. She's hungry but not really interested in eating; she's thirsty but not really able for more than a few sips of fluid.
I hope she survives the night.
I'm beginning to think she may have ABLV (Australian Bat Lyssavirus) in a passive form; the leg weakness, the hunger but reluctance or inability to swallow, the neurological vagueness... Of course, it could just be a head injury which is causing the randomly weak legs and difficulty swallowing.
Either way, this girl is in a lot of trouble. I'm hoping she starts peeing and then it's just a matter of slow refeeding to get her fat and sassy and happy.
Her name follows my current cocktail/drinks theme. She's a living skeleton key, which is also, apparently, a cocktail.
Let's see if we can turn her into a pork chop over the next few weeks.
(I don't actually have a lot of hope for her survival though).
Tolga Bat Hospital takes donations for me. 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).
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.
jenny@tolgabathospital.org
God bless this lil sweet baby ❤🙏
I love watching your lovingkindness towards all your rescues, dearly beloved Meg!
I do lift up Skeleton Key, knowing that she’s in our heavenly Father’s arms, as are we all!
Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Great comment
@@stephanieb7311 Thank you! God bless you abundantly always dearly beloved
Being in the US, I gotta say that I sometimes feel a tinge of pride at the realization that I now know infinitely more about flying foxes than most of the Aussie MOPs Meg deals with...... 100% due to having watched this channel over a few years now. And so glad we didn't get the "RIP" in the description, will have my fingers crossed for Skeleton Key's turnaround.
LOL Sasser
Of course you know more than the average Aussie because you actually fell in love with the batties over a period of years.
Aussies, in general, loathe bats.
@@Megabattie, I think there should be a push for education about the importance of fruit bats as pollinators.
Why do Australians hate them? We have loud birds here. They’re protected by law (the parrots, not the crows or seagulls). I would think that people would get used to the noise, and learn to ignore it, like we tend to do when living near anything noisy (trains, freeway noise, parrots, sparrows, etc., all become background noise).
Living next to a bat colony isn't fun; they're noisy, smelly and messy; parking under a tree frequented by feeding bats is smelly and messy.
Basically they're the neighbours from hell.
Also people are unreasonably scared by the remote risk of rabies and other viruses, particularly since CoVid.
@@Megabattie Did skeleton key survive?
I agree this is incredible amazing great learning and. Wonderful I hope this little guy has a great life and eats a lot of insects.
Thank you Meg, tender loving care is always needed, hope she's a survivor. 🙏🇨🇦🦇🍁
Hang in there Skeleton Key. You have hundreds of thousands of fans and animal lovers pulling for you! I am sending you positive and healing energy😇❤️🖤🦇🖤❤️
FIGHT, Skellie, FIGHT! I really hope she's still fighting. Good luck, Meg 🤞
I will be hoping Skeleton Key holds on and recovers. Your videos serve to educate and inform, so critical to bats that have been demonized through literature and movies, and more importantly through willful ignorance.
I absolutely love your comment and agree with it too! Sending love from Chicago IL USA.🦇🥰
Meg you are so wonderful!💕 I don't know anyone who would comb out Maggots or Bat Flies with such compassion & grace, bless you!! Bless miss Skeleton Key!🩶🦇🗝️💕💕 Keeping ONLY POSITIVE prayers/thoughts.🥺💕
It's only maggots; she was relatively easily because there were so few of them and they hadn't hatched into maggots yet.
@@Megabattie, It looked like a lot, but that might be my phobia of maggots. Were some just eggs?
they were only eggs; none had hatched @@SuziQ.
@@Megabattie Meg you are awesome!! I bless you for helping the Bats and especially when maggots are part of the deal.👍💕
I don't have a problem with maggots except in how they affect the bats; maggoty bats have a harder recovery.
Maggots themselves - they're just squishy little things which wriggle around and need removal.
@@tracyjacoby2382
I pray for little Skeleton Key that she pulls through and makes complete recovery. 🙏 🤞❤️🦇❤️
Poor little cutie, hope she will survive and be able to fly again, healthy and strong🍀😍🦇🥰
Poor sick little girl, no telling what internal damage has been done due to such malnutrition and dehydration. Maggots, omg. I know they have a role in "cleaning", but not on living breathing creatures, please! Fingers crossed Skeleton Key can recover. Thank you.
Maggots make me shudder, too.
I was about to post a "Fingers crossed she beats the odds", but I just saw the update that she passed about five hours ago. Poor little bub, at least she was safe and comfortable at the end. 😢
Yes, a few hours after the video was uploaded.
Poor baby. At least, in her final moments, she had something to cuddle onto, a full belly, and some medicine for the pain.
SHe was as comfortable as she could be made.
Hi Spiralrose
Are you new to my channel?
Welcome to Megabattie,
I put lots of information in the descriptions under the videos - so if you have questions, look for the answers there first. I also put the fate of the animal if I know it, at the time I put the video up. I may put updates there later if I find out what happened to the animal after it has left my care.
There is also a Happy Outcomes playlist if you want to only watch videos where the bat survives; this is a real life channel and you get the good, the bad, the ugly and distressing, and even my oopsies.
You can find further videos on an individual bat by searching in the YT search bar for Megabattie/and the name of the bat you want to follow.
There is a community tab (like a mini Facebook page) on my channel - if you go to Megabattie home page, there is a menu bar across the top under the cover pic. Home, Videos, Playlists, Community, About. If you click on the community tab there are posts there where I can share pix and talk about some of the videos I put up and answer questions.
Poor little baby. At least she was in good hands and a bit more comfortable in the end. Thank you Meg ❤😊
Oh so heartbreaking, im so sad this little one didn't make it. 😔Rest in Peace sweet baby 🙏
Prayers for Skeleton Key.
RIP Skeleton Key. Thanks for trying to save her.
Oh no she died?!
Poor little raggidy Anne. So sad to see them like this. At least you did everything ypu could, she was in the best place amd comfortable in her last days. Thank you Meg ❤❤❤
Am I the only one who thinks they look like Irish wolf hounds?
That they do .
Maybe when megabattie runs out of cocktail names she will go Irish
I had a batty named Irish Eyes this season.
Good luck to you sweet girl!🦇💝💝🦇
Hopefully she makes it. She's quite a fighter.
She is adorable, she's eating and I hope she makes it. Poor little thing. I hope you find combs that aren't white. Hard to see those little 'bugs' that are the same colour. Please keep us all updated on little Miss S, Key.
I can see the white combs in the fur - they're good.
Hello Maggie and greetings from the United States and the current time here is 5:pm eastern time and just wanted to let you know what a very good job you're doing taking care of all those sweet Batties and you're very amazing with your work and thank you for taking care of all of them and keep up the good work.🦇🦇
Hi User
I'm Meg; Maggie helps with the feeds for the babies. I do the rescues and intensive care and stabilisation.
We're 2 separate people. I'm Megabattie.
Thanks for the compliment.
I'm very sorry Meg. I just couldn't remember your name at the time but you are amazing as well and how you've got a special way of handling and calming them down and taking care of them and you're for sure a Battie whisperer but I've been subscribed and follow you and Maggie for a long time now and just love your sanctuary how you have it set up. It's like the Ritz Carlton hotel for the Batties and they're all living a life of Luxury and so thanks to you as well Meg for what you and Maggie do.
By the way sorry for not telling you yet but my names Mary.
Hi Mary, good to have you as a viewer @@user-dj6ls4lw2d
BTW, Mandi is the one who has the aviaries and the Waltorf Batoria and the lovely setup. I just have my apartment and a Maggie to help me.
Mandi lives 1200 kms away.
We all apologies for having similar names
@@user-dj6ls4lw2d
So very much hope she survives to be able to have her share of babies 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
The more MOP learn from u the better. Perhaps some will become rescuers. I hope the baby survives.
Sweet baby. Hopefully on the mend. Please keep us posted Meg❤
Beautiful sweet thing. Thanks for your continued care and dedication.
Hoping the best for you little Skeleton Key 💕🦇
Danke Meg, daß du die Menschen aufklärst und sie sensibilisiert, wie wunderschön diese Wesen sind. Du bist eine tolle Lehrerin! ♥️
I’m hoping she just weak from severe malnutrition and dehydration… and her kidney haven’t started falling. I agree she’s a very sick baby, whatever ails her! Such a sweet little baby, you hate to see it. I am very surprised though the number of MOPs know very little about their local wildlife. Here in the states we all are pretty aware of what lives among us, maybe it’s because we may have less species?
Pretty sure you have a huge diversity of species in the US, animals about whom you ave no idea. It's only the cute and cuddlies that get the notice.
@@MegabattieMost of us also know about the creatures that are pesky for us.
Yes... but you have a huge diversity over there.
I'd love to rescue porcupines. They seem so intelligent and interactive. @@debbiej.2168
@@MegabattieI'd love to rescue bats here in the UK, however, one, I would cry if I ever lost one and two, they tend to nest in very dark, cramped places where a certain ..8 legged abomination would also be. And my phobia is debilitating enough where if one pops up in a youtubers video without warning I'll cry, then twitch and tremble for about 4 days and have intrusive image thoughts for weeks. Unless I had a partner who could get them out their roosts while I do the care part, I don't think I could. However, I'm very passionate about foxes, I'd love to do that ☺️✨️🩷✨️
R.I.P little skeleton key :( you will be missed and hopefully you are in peace. Fly high baby! 😭🦇💗
I’m sorry to hear this sweet baby didn’t make it ☹️❤️
Owl is very accommodating.
Owl is a treasure and shall be called Beakie now; very accommodating.
Loved that cute little wink she was doing
Poor little darling. Thank goodness she’s with you now. I wish her the very best of luck for a full recovery 🤞❤️
Oh my heart ♡
: ( tired little body has had enough
He was just too skinny and too far gone to survive
I love bats. I looked into putting up bat houses, but they're supposed to be on 20 foot posts according to the information I got from the local forestry service. I can't do a 20 foot post. I couldn't even get that home, much less install it.
Different species have different housing requirements, aspects and heights. Some bat boxes can be mounted on trees and/or on the side of houses. Batties are fussy about their real estate.
I understand that sometimes it's just not possible.
My mom had a silver back who used to hang out under a wall mounted decorative thing at about 5 feet off the ground. She moved 1/2 mile away (shorter by air) and hasn’t seen him at the new house.
I would check with Merlin Tuttle’s organization about the specific bats in your area. 20 feet seems higher than necessary. Here, we can mount a bat house on a south facing wall under the eaves (probably 10-12 feet high). Mom’s “friend” liked his lower location, as he (she?) returned for years. It was under a covered walkway between the house and the garage.
@@SuziQ. I did contact a bat expert through the university extension just to double check. She sent me information, but I don't think my yard is going to work. Too many trees. The only spot far enough away from the trees is on the west side and would be blazing hot for much of the year.
@@margaretalbrecht4650 ,
That’s a bummer. They’re helpful with mosquito control.
Oh Key I pray you make it. We need you baby
Great video great flying fox and great rescuer. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication to these precious animals.
very pale gums.
RIP, little one..😢
Broke my heart when she was crying in the beginning.Thank you for caring for her.
It really doesn't look that good. I hope she will succeed and recover.🙏🦇
🙏🙏🙏
Poor girl, keeping my fingers crossed.
Did you encounter bats with ABLV during your many years of rescuing?
I've sent 2 off for testing which came back positive in 17 years.
Ok good, ABLV seems to be quite rare indeed.
Fewer than 1% of the population may be infected at any given time. It kills them quickly; if the active part of their brain is infected they can be aggressive and are more likely to attack other bats and pass the virus along. If it affects a passive part of the brain they tend to just hang around until they fall when their legs are weak, and dehydrate because they can't swallow.
Of the bats sent off for testing, 7% test positive; this is because if there's noting wrong with them they' don't need rescue. If there's nothing wrong with them they wouldn't be on the ground and allow themselves to be caught.
Only 3 people in recorded history have died from ABLV, however I'm sure a lot of First Australians died when bitten or scratched before history records this as coming from the bats.
@@dany.adelfinger
Hi Meg! If anyone can get her back on track, you guys can! I certainly hope those little kidneys start working and producing urine. With that virus, possible kidney failure and who knows what else, I know little Skeleton Key is a fighter. You can do it little one! We are all pulling for you!❤
How is she doing?
❤🤗🌹😇oh ma chère Meg j'imerge de l'hôpital et je tombe sur votre toujours admirable dévouement de vos bons soins extraordinaire envers ces chères sauves souris le p'tit peigne anti pou qui me rappelle les colonies de vacances avec les soeurs st Vincent de Paul c'est un véritable baume au coeur grand merci le meilleur pour l'année nouvelle
Bien à vous 🥂💖🤗
merci beaucoup
Poor little girl. She really does not look well at all. 🤞🏻and good healing ❤️🩹 vibes sent through the universe for dear Skeleton Key (I really like Skellie for short). Please little one, fight for life! Please don’t have ABLV!
Thank you Meg for your usual tender ministrations to these beautiful beings. Their eyes are so soulful and intelligent, and say so much about how they feel. And Skellie feels awful 😞. I’m thankful she has you to look out for her. ❤️🦇❤️
Skellie died a few hours after I uploaded this video. I dn't know if she has ABLV or not; I can't send the body off for testing unless they agree to test it and pay for it.
They don't seem to be doing prevalence testing at the moment, and nobody got bitten or scratched, so the body was left for cremation at the vet.
@Megabattie oh no...I'm so sorry 😞 I didn't have the best hopes, but it never sucks any less when you lose them. You did everything you could Meg. 🫂🫂🫂
Poor little sweet heart ❤️
❤🙏4🦇
She looks tired and lost
This one was a bit heartbreaking, I skimmed the title and thought it was a sickly elderly bat for the first few minutes. I hope she makes a great recovery
She died not long after I uploaded the video. Sorry.
@@MegabattieWhat had happened to her?
What was known in diagnosis,
What treatment were given?
The information I know is in the video, and the description which is written below the video.
@@chatgpt4135
@@Megabattie Tragic to hear, but I'm glad you took her in and gave her care and hopefully eased the pain
Thanks @@CottonBollBat
Her jaw looks slightly askew.
It isn't - I kept looking at that one bit of the vid where it looked wrong but it's just the light.
😍🦇🦇🦇🦇😍
MegaBattie what happened to its parents?
She couldn't possibly know.
The fathers are absent after conception. They have no role in raising the babies.
I have no idea what happened to her mum.
I read the community post first, so I know that she didn’t survive. Will the vet do a necropsy to determine if it was ABLV?
The maggots really got to me. I thought they only ate dead flesh. I kept seeing maggots everywhere (not real maggots, but just the lint bits on the fabrics).
You couldn’t have tried any harder to save her, Meg. She was too far gone. 😢
The vets don't do the necropsies, the bodies get sent off for testing (it's a brain biopsy).
No I'm not sending the body off for testing; the testing facility only occasionally will take a body for "prevalence" testing, though they're quite diligent if the bat has bitten or scratched someone.
Poor wee skeleton key, she doesn’t look at all right, and seems in dreadful pain…I didn’t at all like the maggots crawling all over her either. I hope the hydration starts to bring her around, and she survives her first night in care, and you can pinpoint what is wrong with her. I want her to be a survivor…but she has me worried, she is a complicated case. Hoping for better in the morning.🖤🇨🇦
Hi Tamarra
I thought you could access the community page now.
Skellie lost her fight for life a few hours after I uploaded this video.
I don't know what was going on; not sure if it's just a head smack or if she was ABLV+
@@Megabattie I can access the community page, but I was so long unable I need to train myself to do it. I thought she wouldn’t make it…but we do hope. Thanks for letting me know.🌹🖤🇨🇦
You should get notifications for it if you unclick the bell and re click to receive notifications. @@tamarrajames3590
@@Megabattie Thanks Meg…I will do that.🖤🇨🇦
🦇🙏❤
😀
Why does she have so many maggots with no obvious wounds?
She has had eggs laid on her by the flies; they hatch out (starvingly hungry) into maggots, who proceed to eat their way into the little one's body.
These maggots eat living and dead flesh.
@@Megabattie thanks. Maggots are horrible & if that’s a normal part of a bat’s life.....🤢. Poor things.
It's not a normal part of a bat's life but it is a normal part of any animal helpless on the ground; the flies start to lay eggs on anything which can't fight back; the bat on the ground or hanging low is in trouble; if they have a head injury they can't fight back, and if they're peeing on themselves and not grooming, they will have pooey and pee-y wing folds and wing pits where the flies will lay eggs in the mess to give their maggots food when they hatch. It devolves from there.
@@Megabattie I understand. It’s not an easy life for them, poor things. Still, they have you looking out for their welfare. God bless you.
I don't live in a vacuum; I couldn't do it without the network of people who do what they can.
Goo to put in eyes?
Yeah, to lubricate the eyes when they don't blink a lot, as they don't with head injuries. The surface of the eyes get dry from the reduction in the blink reflex so the surface ulcerates
Hi ☺ How is Skeleton? Is she alright?
Hi Layla
Sadly she died just after I uploaded the video.
Are you new to my channel?
Welcome to Megabattie,
I put lots of information in the descriptions under the videos - so if you have questions, look for the answers there first. I also put the fate of the animal if I know it, at the time I put the video up. I may put updates there later if I find out what happened to the animal after it has left my care.
There is also a Happy Outcomes playlist if you want to only watch videos where the bat survives; this is a real life channel and you get the good, the bad, the ugly and distressing, and even my oopsies.
You can find further videos on an individual bat by searching in the YT search bar for Megabattie/and the name of the bat you want to follow.
There is a community tab (like a mini Facebook page) on my channel - if you go to Megabattie home page, there is a menu bar across the top under the cover pic. Home, Videos, Playlists, Community, About. If you click on the community tab there are posts there where I can share pix and talk about some of the videos I put up and answer questions.
@@Megabattie Thanks for responding, I read in the description that you didn't have much hope that she would survive and that's why I had doubts. I understand that it is a channel that shows real content, I have been following you for more than a year and I greatly admire your work. I feel very sorry every time a bat does not survive while I am relieved that they had some chance to be cared for. I'm so sorry for Skeleton.
There are no bats here where I live, but I usually rescue birds like pigeons, cuckoos, thrushes, among others; They are usually chicks that fall out of the nest or injured birds; They don't always survive. I am autistic and many animals, including bats, are a topic of great interest to me, which is why I connect a lot on an emotional level with your content.
I hadn't noticed the community tab, I just played your videos... how clueless of me.
I hope you are well and thank you again for your patience in responding,
Good to have you as a viewer. I don't post a lot on my community page, but I do use it for extra stuff which I can't include in the videos.
@@LaykaSnail
What does MOP stand for?
Member of Public
Thank you Paul.
Hi Shari
As Paul says; Member of Public.
We just call them MOPs.
RIP Skellie.. you left this world loved and cared for. Fly free littlun ✨️🩷✨️ hope you're doing okay meg 🫂🫂🫂
I'm fine; I don't attach to the batties unless I've had them for a while.
@Megabattie I know you have to do that with rescue. I follow a lady on Instagram who's about your age, and she attaches herself to every rescue pup she takes in.. she's very emotionally sensitive and empathic like me, and cries herself silly with every loss, even if she just got them. That's why I couldn't do what you do, and greatly admire you for it! I'd love to tag along and learn all about flying foxes. I got a big soft toy of a flying fox for Christmas I named Bean ☺️✨️🩷✨️ have you had a batty named Bean yet? ^-^ I fell in love with Bib and Bub.. my girlfriend calls me both 🩷 hope you're staying safe in the heat! I'm currently sandwiched between heated blankets with frozen hands and feet ☺️❄️
I rescued a baby called Bean (and another who was named Sprout) who were raised by a carer from my group.
I just have the type of brain which can cope with this; it allows me to do the work I d and not get particularly stressed by it. If I was shattered by every loss I would be useless as a rescuer, or long since burnt out.