Shooey part 4: where I take him out to the release aviary

Shooey is a juvenile male Grey-Headed Flying-Fox on the cusp of puberty. He's just starting to get his big boy stink and thickening genitals. He was found on an apartment block walkway corridor kind of balcony, crouching on a shoe rack (as you do when there's no better place to hang out). In care he's been an octopus and quite grabby and desperate to escape, however I'm not sure how much of this is adrenaline, so he's had some analgesia, fluids and is lying down at least for the first night. By day 2 it's obvious that he's feeling quite well but is stressed by captivity, so the plan is to take him out to the release aviary tomorrow so he can be with other batties and start eating for himself with company. I was going to hard release him this week, but this is a better idea. He's got 3 days in the aviary before the hatch is open, and in that time we can make sure he's eating and moving around the cage well and integrating into the group. I'll collar and chip him and he can be released with the others when the hatch opens on Wednesday. I do like to see them fly off, but this is better for him. I've decided the perfect name for a batty found on a shoe is Shooey, which is, coincidentally, also the perfect name for a shoe shine fairy (which are an endangered species, and very very rare in Australia)... Tolga Bat Hospital takes donations for our batties. Tolga is an awesome place in Far North Queensland, which has charity status. By sending donations to them, they get a percentage (and deserve every cent) and they can allocate money to me for batty expenses without it becoming part of my income stream (which makes tax time difficult). https://tolgabathospital.org/donate/ Mention Megabattie or Meg in the PayPal message box and the money will find its way to me. If no message box appears, please email Jenny to tell her that the money is for me. IMPORTANT: If you pay through the PayPal Giving Fund, can you please email Jenny with the AMOUNT DONATED and the name under which you have donated, OR just forward along the PP receipt. The Giving Fund doesn’t charge any fees (so the bats get more money) but PP doesn’t itemise out the amount, they just send a total every month, and we don’t know if the money is for Tolga or for Megabattie. Here’s Jenny’s email. [email protected]