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Baby flying fox cuddled by rescuer while sucking pacifier

"Baby bats are attached to their mum's nipple for the first 4 weeks of their life and they need a dummy/pacifier when they come into care," the Batzilla the Bat rescue group said.

By Ben Hooper
An orphaned flying fox bat is cuddled by a rescuer. Batzilla the Bat/YouTube video screenshot
An orphaned flying fox bat is cuddled by a rescuer. Batzilla the Bat/YouTube video screenshot

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CANBERRA, Australia, July 31 (UPI) -- Australian bat rescuers shared a video of an orphaned baby flying fox being cuddled in the hands of a rescuer while sucking on a pacifier.

The Batzilla the Bat rescue community posted a video to YouTube showing a rescuer wearing gloves holding the tiny flying fox in her hands while it sucks on a pacifier.

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The group said on its Facebook page the rescuer was wearing gloves to protect from the bat's sharp claws.

The rescuers said orphan bats are given pacifiers and dummies to simulate suckling from their mothers.

"Baby bats are attached to their mum's nipple for the first 4 weeks of their life and they need a dummy/pacifier when they come into care," they said in a Facebook comment.

The Facebook post said abandoned bats can sometimes be reunited with their mothers.

"We wrap the baby and offer only water, warmth and a dummy for the day. Just before dark we head off to the spot the baby was found and hang the baby on a branch big enough for mum to land on. If mum is coming back she will be the first one out of the colony just on dusk and she flies in at full speed looking for her baby. We sometimes have to pinch the baby to make it cry as if mum can't hear baby, she can't locate it. Once mum has heard her baby she starts screaming at it and races in to claim it. She quickly checks it over before taking off with her baby safely tucked up under her wing."

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