Batman 2

I read somewhere that when a baby fruit bat loses grip and falls to the ground, the mother bat won't pick it up. Bats hunt for miles and miles, so if the baby unluckily slips,... This could be the case with this little one inside the red basket.

After four hours, I take a peek, turning the folds of the kitchen cloth so I can see the baby. It crrrrkkkkks. Hey, I say. Hungry? It opens its left eye. Want some juiceee? Here you go. He grabs the syringe from my hand. Look at you! I let out a soft laugh. The baby is ecstatic. The syringe is full of sweet apple juice, the natural kind, it says on its packaging.

Now stuffed, he expertly moves his head up, so he is facing the cloth. Something shoots out from his bottom, black, solid. Oh, toilet time, huh?

I wipe him clean. He gives off a sweet fruity smell. I let him hold on to my pointer. His fingers curl around mine. Now out of the basket, I get on with the business of checking for more parasites. I squash one black louse and drowns a tick. Finding nothing more, I put him back inside the basket, upside down. I leave him to sleep.

I feed him every four hours. I alternate dextrose and apple juice. According to a guide on taking care of baby flying foxes, the carer must not give orange juice to it. I don't know why; maybe too acidic and it may cause a tummy upset. I plan to start him on baby formula. Evening feeds are difficult. I could hardly get up, especially at two in the morning. But I persevere.

I notice that the baby has developed a crust on his right eye. My daughter says his eye looks red. Sometimes juice flows out of his mouth and travels down his right cheek, wetting the skin under his right eye. He needs to be seen by a vet. I get him ready. I wrap him in his kitchen cloth, making sure his nose can peer out for air. He opens his eyes every now and then, and crrrkkks. Let's go, I say to him.

I put the padlock around the hooks of the sliding metal gate and bat and I are off. Out on the main street, I hail a tuktuk. Bat and I start our trip to the vet's clinic.

I shouldn't have brought him there.

I should have gone back to PetsVCare.