It's early morning on Friday, March 1. A Wildlife Rescue South Coast carer (WRSC) has just arrived at Bega's Glebe Lagoon, she parks under the shade of the tall spotted gum and opens up the hatch of her car. Inside there is a sheet-shrouded cage. Hanging from the roof of the cage is Lucky, a small female flying fox. Her wings are wrapped neatly around her, her round eyes peer out.
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Lucky was the luckier of the three bats who were found in a Bega Valley backyard entangled in netting around an apple tree. Today after almost four weeks in care she is ready to spread her wings and is being released back into the wild.
"She is a healthy weight, she has recuperated nicely," the WRSC Bega region carer, who Fairfax Media agreed not to name, said.
However the other two haven't been so fortunate.
"Their injuries differed depending on how they were stuck in the netting. They were in a really bad way and so they aren't ready to be released yet and it's still unsure how the male will go," the carer said.
According to WRSC, flying foxes being caught in fruit tree netting is a very common occurrence, so common in fact rescuers are attending up to two rescues a day. And today is no exception. Just as we were planning to meet up with the WRSC Bega region carer, she called us to change plans. She had just received a call out. A flying fox had been caught in a net near Eden.
"Plans just go awry. That's just how it is. Sometimes you think you have bit of time and then the phone rings," she said.
"Over the last three weeks there have been a few dozen rescues around the Bega Valley. And they are just the ones we know about. We really don't know how many bats people have freed themselves.
"We were called out recently after a person attempted to cut bat out of netting. The bat's fingers were ripped open and the bones twisted and snapped. As a result it had to be euthanised."
WRSC flying fox coordinator Janine Davies urged the public not to try and untangle the flying foxes. Calling for WRSC assistance was the best way to handle the situation for their own safety and that of the creatures, she said.
"People can be bitten or scratched and any one handling them needs to vaccinated. A small percentage (less than one per cent) of flying foxes and insectivorous bats can carry the Australian bat lyssavirus (ABL). The ABL is transmitted through saliva, and not faeces or urine as sometimes reported," she said.
"A point to remember is that if you are bitten or scratched, that animal will need to be euthanised to enable it to be tested for ABL."
For flying fox rescuers euthanising the bats caught in netting has become a sad and familiar reality.
"The net wraps so tightly that circulation is cut off. This means that although there may be no apparent signs of injury when first rescued, the tissue dies and becomes apparent days or even weeks later. Unfortunately this means that many flying-foxes need to be euthanised," Ms Davies said.
WRSC urged the public to consider buying wildlife friendly netting and to make sure the netting was tightened over the fruit trees, as loose netting made it easy for an animal to climb under and become entangled.
"If the mesh is large, if you can fit your fingers through, native animals can become entangled, suffer terrible injuries and ultimately die," Ms Davies said.
For injured wildlife call:
- Wildlife Rescue South Coast - 0417 238 921
- WIRES - 1300 094 737