A baby bat has been returned home after she went on an 150-mile trip hidden in a Glasgow couple’s holiday suitcase.
The bat was discovered by the couple returning from a stay at a cottage on Kinlochmoidart Estate in Lochailort.
A microbiologist and former veterinary nurse Tracey Jolliffe was contacted by the Bat Conservation Trust.
Ms Jolliffe, who named the bat Raspberry, said the juvenile soprano pipistrelle was “in a bad way” when she first started caring for her.
She added that it was common for bats at Raspberry’s age to get into trouble as she was on the point of her first proper flight.
“Raspberry was a juvenile on the point of her first proper flight. It’s relatively common for them to get into trouble at that point,” she said.
Ms Jolliffe said that she spent time feeding the young bat up, and keeping her on a heating mat before carrying out test flights in her bedroom.
She said: “I carried out test flights to make sure she was well enough to fly before we needed to think about getting her back up the road.”
As the bat expert was in the Glasgow area she was unable to make the four hour trip back up to the estate and put an appeal on social media for people to help.
Supplied“We had a lot of volunteers so we did a bat relay to get Raspberry back home,” she said.
Sarah Winnington-Ingram, who helps manage the estate, said she has never seen anything like Raspberry’s adventure.
“There is a lot of wildlife up here and there is a colony of bats living outside the cottage so I think the bat has gotten disorientated and found a dark place to go.”
She added: “She has been returned home and rereleased. It’s really nice to see that people are looking after our bats.”
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
