Aussies gripped by ‘sweet’ hotel pool rescue

A clip of an unexpected rescue from a hotel pool in North Queensland has tugged at the heartstrings of Aussies with the video clocking more than 95,000 views.

A video of a bat rescue has tugged at the heartstrings of many online after the two-month-old found itself in a resort pool in North Queensland for a night.

Kate CJ Murphy, president of the Townsville Bat Rescue Australia, shared a clip of herself rescuing the baby bat Thursday morning after it became stuck in a hotel pool in Townsville.

“She was about two months old and probably just testing her wings, trying to fly for the first time away from mum,” Kate told news.com.au.

“We get a few two to three month olds flying for the first time and they get themselves in odd positions.”

Kate, who has been rescuing bats for 20 years, said the flying mammal must have mistook the pool for a lake while attempting to drink water following a heatwave in Townsville.

The manager called Kate after finding the bat in the hotel pool on Thursday morning.

“Bats fly down to rivers to skim the water to drink, they don’t hang still and drink – they skim down as they’re flying. [And] the lap pool looks like a river to a bat who is learning about life,” Kate said.

The bat was found in the pool of a Townsville resort on Thursday morning. Picture: Townsville Bat Rescue Australia

“Before we had all this rain in Townsville we had extreme heat and she possibly thought it was a good place to have a drink.”

Kate said the bat must have run into trouble while trying to fly back up as the pool has a shaded roof.

In the clip she shared to Townsville Bat Rescue Australia official Facebook page, the black flying fox can be seen gliding through the water.

It didn’t hesitate climbing onto Kate’s towel as she rescued the animal. Picture: Townsville Bat Rescue Australia

Kate can be heard telling the bat to come towards her – which it does promptly.

“Do you want a hand?” she says, as the little one eagerly hitches a lift on the towel Kate was holding.

“Oh goodness me, well that wasn’t real smart was it?” she continues.

The video has been viewed more than 95,000 times with many gripped by the sweet rescue.

“I love the way she came straight to you the faith in a human helping her is so sweet,” one person wrote.

Kate, the president of the Kate CJ Murphy, president of Townsville Bat Rescue Australia, said the baby bat will be released into the wild with about 30 other friends. Picture: Townsville Bat Rescue Australia

“Awwwwwwww. Sweet little sky puppy said ‘Ohh thank goodness you came!’ Whew!” wrote another, while a third simply said: “Amazing.”

Following the rescue, Kate, who is one of five volunteers at the not-for-profit group, kept the bat in her care for 24 hours.

The 190g flying fox was placed in an isolation cage to warm up as Kate checked to make sure she didn’t have pneumonia or water in her lungs after having spent a night in the pool.

The resort where the creature was found is located near mangroves where they live.

After monitoring the bat, Kate put her with a release colony that she’s “already got [so] she will be released with about 30 other friends because they’re mob animals.”

She said being so young, she can’t just take the bat back to where she came from as she will get lost again.