Bat Found Stranded on a Neighbor's Balcony
- Mar 27
- 2 min read
By Stephen Messenger for The Dodo
On a beautiful sunny day in Melbourne, Australia, the resident of a high-rise apartment building heard a strange noise and went to investigate. It seemed to be a banging sound coming from a vacant unit next door.
Concerned, the resident alerted the building’s manager who moved in for a closer look and realized that it was a young flying fox, who’d sadly become stranded. And because bats are unable to take flight from the ground, he’d been struggling in vain to reach a higher position up the balcony’s sleek railing in order to fly away.
Before long, rescuers from Fly by Night Bat Clinic were on the scene to assist. For clinic founder Tamsyn Hogarth, this is an all-too-common predicament that bats find themselves in through no fault of their own.
“He likely was blown onto the balcony with wind gusts around the high-rise building,” Hogarth told The Dodo. “He then got trapped, as there is no way to escape.” Fortunately, thanks to the neighbor’s refusal to ignore the strange sounds from next door, this bat was discovered in time to be saved.
“He was very lucky to have been found,” Hogarth said. “Otherwise, he likely would have died.”
The bat was wrapped in cozy blankets and lavished with grapes to regain his strength. Back at the clinic, the juvenile grey-headed flying fox was given a thorough examination — and even more grapes.
Fortunately, his stay would only be temporary. “He was only 12 weeks old and was OK, so we wanted him to go back to his mother in camp,” Hogarth said, referring to the known bat colony near by.
Healthy and ready to go home, volunteers drove him back to his familial camp, where, amid the chorus of chirps and squeaks from the colony, he could recognize his mother’s unique call.
And off he flew.
“He’s doing very well!” Hogarth said, noting that this bat was just one of several hundred rescued by Fly By Night Bat Clinic in Victoria each year.
Hogarth hopes that this bat’s serendipitous discovery on the high-rise balcony will raise awareness of the dangers bats face due to similar strandings. Simple solutions on the part of both building developers and residents could save countless lives.
“If you live in a high-rise, please check unused balconies and consider how access points might unintentionally trap wildlife. And please place something to allow them to climb out,” Fly By Night wrote in a post. “This is preventable. We just need awareness and action.”
To learn more about their lifesaving work, visit Fly By Night Bat Clinic's website here.
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