_moonbeam_

Monday is my Friday, but it was Monday all day long. Every bit of it.

Friday and Saturday, I'm the primary bat/otter keeper. Sunday and Monday, I'm the herp/invert primary. Upon opening my section, Andrea ( the head bat/otter keeper) announces over the radio that there is a bat that appears to have spent the night outside and that she would check things out. The vet staff responds asking for an update as soon as the situation was asset. The update came through choked back tears that she didn't think that the bat was alive. We have a shared service area, so I was the first to respond to her, outside crying in the rain. The bat was at the highest point of the exhibit, and upon first appearances, the way it was perched looked similar to a bat that had met a similar fate years prior. In attempts to console her, We both noticed a slight movement of the bat. By that point, the vet staff and several other zoo staff members arrived to help out. It took two people to climb up the rock structure to reach him, and a chain of people to pass him down to be crated so that we could transport him to the hospital for further treatment. It isn't known how long he spent outdoors, but being a tropical animal, any amount of time spent out in the cold rain isn't good. His glucose levels were extremely low along with his body temperature ... that wasn't the worst of his ailments.

He had a dislocated thumb and an open compound fracture. Open at your own risk...

Imagine his wing, with bone jetting out and the skin rolled back, similar to this, but worse. This is how my morning started.

He's okay now, I suppose. He's heavily medicated for the night, and goes in for surgery tomorrow.