Australian woman creates the sweetest wraps to cuddle and help calm orphaned baby bats
Australians are known for their ingenuity when it comes to keeping animals safe and warm. Take Australia’s oldest man, who knits sweaters for oil-stricken penguins in his spare time, and the locals who often sew mittens for koalas singed by bushfires.
Sydney woman Meg Churches, aka Megabattieblue, is the latest in a long, proud line. She’s the one-person team behind Cuddlebatz, a protective wrap made to help orphaned baby bats around Australia.
Baby bats can become orphaned when their mother is unwell or dies, sometimes during extreme heat events or attacks from predators, according to the Tolga Bat Hospital. It is crucial for the baby’s survival that their experience with their mother is replicated, which is where the Cuddlebatz comes in.
The Cuddlebatz is made from a soft flannelette fabric and has been designed specifically for “upset” orphaned baby bats. The wrap encloses them, replicating their mother’s wings. A hole for a pacifier has been built into the wrap, enabling the baby bat to suckle in comfort.
Newly rescued bats spend about 24 to 48 hours in the Cuddlebatz before settling down, Churches told Mashable Australia.
The wrap was featured in a video on the Bat Conservation and Rescue Queensland’s popular Facebook page, “Batzilla the Bat,” in late 2015. The video shows an orphaned bat as its Cuddlebatz is unwrapped, which might just be one of the most adorable things you’ll ever see.
It’s very much a labour of love for Churches, who manufactures the wraps during the winter when bat rescues are less frequent. To stave off the copycats that have arisen due to the wrap’s newfound popularity, she’s also had to trademark the Cuddlebatz name.
Despite the spike in attention and the time-consuming task of making the Cuddlebatz, Churches isn’t looking at mass manufacture or even crowdfunding as the next step. “I don’t see the point. It’s still a limited market. Once everyone’s got one or two, I can keep up with the new orders,” she said.
The next step for Churches is to work on a hood for the Cuddlebatz to help cover the bat’s head along with “other innovations,” but in the meantime, she’s just hoping to keep up with demand.
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