Unusual baby bat found near Selby UK

AN UNUSUAL baby bat is causing quite a stir after being handed in to a wildlife rescue centre near Selby.

The rare coloured, furry baby bat was found on a doorstep in Brayton and taken to a local vets.

It was then passed on to the Wildlife Orphanage, based in Barlby, who were flummoxed as to its colouration and shaggy fur.

Annette Pyrah, who runs the rescue centre, said: "I received a call from Holmefield Vets asking if I could take a bat.

"My volunteer went to collect it and I was shocked when she returned. We have had lots of pure white albino hedgehogs in the past but never a light coloured, furry bat.

"We administered emergency treatment and rehydrated the baby bat with a child’s paint brush.

"It was such a hot day and the little bat was extremely thirsty. We then searched Google images to try and find what species he was.

"The bat was so unusual that I contacted a bat expert in York who was very intrigued and came out late at night to collect him."

The next day the baby bat was confirmed as a leucistic pipistrelle bat with a gene mutation which gives him a furry coat.

Annette added: "There has been a lot of interest in the bat and the BBC’s The One Show rang us for more information.

"There’s always a first every year in Wildlife Rescue, but this is the strangest 'first' ever. He is still a baby, and being a mammal, needs a special formula milk powder and has to be weaned like other baby mammals."

The wildlife rescue can be contacted by phoning 07711883072 or by visiting their website: www.wildlifeorphans.co.uk

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