A Good Samaritan was walking the streets of Brisbane, Australia, when they noticed a small bat barely clinging to the edge of the sidewalk.
They weren’t sure what to do, so they quickly called Bat Conservation & Rescue.
“We were worried he would crawl off somewhere and be hard to locate or in danger,” rescuer Rebecca Appleton told The Dodo. “But when I arrived] he was still doing his best to hang.”
Appleton was immediately moved by the little bat.
“He looked so sad and I couldn’t wait to get him warm and safe,” Appleton said. “He let me grab him very easily, as he was very weak.”
Once they arrived at the bat rescue, staff named the little guy Donnie Darko, and started getting him the help he needed.
Donnie, a younger bat, had been suffering due to a food shortage in the area caused by higher rainfall and colder temperatures.
But with each day at the shelter, Donnie started regaining his strength and his personality began to shine.
“Donnie was a total sweetheart,” Appleton said. “The other bats had to have medication each day in a syringe mixed with food, and once he realized they were being hand fed, I had to make him up a pretend medication syringe to stop him trying to steal from the others.”
Eventually, Donnie began avoiding contact with his rescuers — a good sign, because it showed he was becoming more independent and could soon return to the wild.
In a Facebook post about Donnie, Bat Conservation & Rescue stressed the importance of looking out for bats in need of help.
“Please keep a look out for bats hanging alone during the day as these bats need help,” the conservation wrote. “And please plant locally native species in your garden to help ease these food shortages and provide food and habitat for local wildlife.”
Thanks to the help he received from so many animal lovers, Donnie now gets a second chance at a life in the wild, proving that even the smallest action can make a big difference.