Bat's penis impaled on industrial barbed wire fence: 'My God'
The Aussie rescuer who helped the bat has explained how she removed the barb from the flying fox's penis.
If ever there was a reason to ban barbed wire, then this photo is it.
At first glance the bat appears to be comfortably hanging upside-down from a fence, but he’s actually caught on one of the barbs. And no, the barbs aren’t through his feet, they’ve painfully pierced his penis.
We spoke to the horrified wildlife rescuer who volunteered an hour of her time on the weekend, trying to release the traumatised animal. “When I first saw him my reaction was: My God,” she told Yahoo News Australia. “I’ve done barbed wire, but I’ve never done barbed wire through the penis. I just thought how the hell am I going to deal with this.”
Barbed wire is a wildlife carer’s worst nightmare. While it has limited value in keeping livestock contained, it frequently snags bats, owls, tawny frogmouths, gliders, possums and kangaroos. You can read more about its horrifying impact below.
The wire is particularly troublesome when it cuts through wildlife corridors, and without help snagged wildlife are left to die a slow death through dehydration, sunstroke and exhaustion.
Rescuer reveals how she removed barb from bat's penis
When Treycee Peka-Baker from The Wildlife Rescuers got the call to assist the endangered grey-head flying fox it was pouring with rain.
The animal had been found by a worker in Thomastown, 15km north of Melbourne. Initially the tiny creature was curled up, but as Treycee approached, he unwrapped himself to reveal a horrifying injury.
“That’s when I noticed where he was caught. He wasn’t caught on anything but his penis. And there was a barb right through it,” she said.
“He was quiet until I started doing what I had to do. He was becoming aggressive, so it was very stressful for us both.”
To minimise the animal’s pain, Treycee wrapped him in a towel and then cut the wire either side of the barb. She then carried him into a workshop inside a nearby building.
“It was a small procedure. I gently manoeuvred the barb around until it came out,” she said.
Treycee is a vaccinated and trained bat handler, so after the animal was free she took him home to her sanctuary to recover.
He’s on the improve and flying around his rehabilitation enclosure. But he’ll likely need to be held in care for a week to ensure there are no long-lasting impacts of his barbed wire experience.
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