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Redmond's 1500klm journey (without a single wing flap)

Little Red Flying-fox

Wildlife caring is all good, but sometimes something really special turns up which makes life even more interesting. Redmond is a juvenile Little Red Flying-fox whose mum was rescued at Tumut in the Snowy Mountains. Unlike our regular Black and Grey-headed Flying-foxes, Little Reds are highly nomadic and with an exclusively nectivorous diet. So they follow the flowering and never stay in one place for any length of time.

Being a little specialised with regard to housing and diet, Redmond's pregnant mum went into care with Gerry, a carer from the NANA group in Nowra, to start her recovery from serious barbed-wire injuries. Gerry has a heated cage set up for Little Reds and takes them from all over the Sydney region and south.

Redmond was born in care and, as little bats do, he grew. Within no time, he was weaned and ready to go, but his mum was still recovering. Also, the adult male Reds in the cage with his mum were creating problems for Redmond.

Little Reds only grow to about 350 to 400g, compared to their bigger Grey and Black cousins; which can tip the scales at over 1 kilo. When they arrive in an area, it can be literally 500,000 at a time, promptly trashing the place and then leaving when the flowering stops. The problem with this is that by the time babies have grown, or rehabilitated adults are ready for release, the colony has long gone. What follows is a flurry of emails and phone calls throughout the bat carer networks to see where they have turned up next.

It was arranged with Gerry to bring Redmond up here, with the view to sending him into Queensland when a suitable release location turned up. A carer from Bat Rescue Gold Coast brought him up from Sydney after visiting relatives. We put the word out and waited. Most Little Reds usually end up at a colony near carers at Gladstone, but the Red colonies had not yet reformed as they usually do in November. After several weeks with us, a chance phone call revealed that a carer near Noosa had two colonies on her property, and that Reds had just turned up in great numbers to feed on the profusion of Grey gum that was flowering. The race was on to get Redmond up there before they left.

The Noosa carer promptly agreed to take him and soft-release him with other Reds in her care, together with some that came down from Gladstone. All that was now required was his "passport" and "visa" from the relevant wildlife authorities in Qld and NSW, which were promptly granted.

We are driving him to Southport on the Gold Coast, and a Gold Coast Bat Rescue member will be taking him from there to Noosa.

To my knowledge, Redmond is the first Little Red TVWC has had in care, but this species is a regular visitor to Kyogle, Moore Park, and Casino, and have sometimes been sighted at Uki. He has been an absolute joy to have in care. Being liquid-feeding nectivores, Redmond enjoyed his evening meal of a great-smelling but rather disgusting-looking bat soup made of soft, mashed, overripe fruit, fruit juice, high protein powder, Sustagen and Lorikeet mix.

However, Redmond had LBHS (Little Bat Hyperactive Syndrome), resembling a little red hyperactive huntsman spiders in care! I am sure all carers of Little Reds will agree that all Reds have a vital part of their brains missing - namely the bit that controls all reason and logic. Being very politically incorrect - he's a raving nutter!

What is so heart-warming is that Redmond's journey has required the cooperation of five wildlife care groups - TVWC, WIRES Snowy Mountains, NANA, Bat Rescue Gold Coast and Noosa Rescue and Release - and two government departments. Therefore, despite being a highly-proficient flyer, little Redmond will have travelled some 1500klms without flapping a single beat.

Footnote: Redmond's mum is recovering well and will be released in the Shoalhaven once Reds return in the new year.