Photographer spots squirrel devouring bat at S’pore Botanic Gardens, awes wildlife lovers

Squirrel photographed eating bat at Singapore Botanic Gardens

A photographer caught an unexpected sight of a squirrel eating a bat in the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

The encounter occurred at 12.50pm on 5 Oct, in the Fragrant Gardens area.

Mr David Tan told MS News that he was there photographing a flycatcher, a type of small bird.

Then, he noticed a local plantain squirrel devouring a bat on a tree branch.

Mr Tan snapped several photos at 1.10pm of the wide-eyed critter, which held the dead bat down and took bites out of it.

“The squirrel apparently caught the bat and climbed higher up the tree to consume the bat,” he said, noting that it was already eating by the time he got there.

It dug into its lunch for more than 45 minutes, before scurrying off with some of the remains of its meal.

Mr Tan speculated that the squirrel was taking it to feed its young but added that he was not an expert on the animal.

Squirrels are omnivores and eat animals as part of diet

The photos surprised members of the Singapore Wildlife Sightings group where it had been uploaded.

One netizen said he didn’t know that squirrels ate other mammals. The cute critters are commonly known for their diet of nuts and fruits.

However, they are actually omnivores which eat other animals, as Mr Tan learnt.

He said in the comments that it was his first time seeing squirrels eating meat.

Many wildlife lovers also expressed their awe, praising the shot as “awesome” and “wild”.

Several others in the group also witnessed the encounter, taking their own shots of it.

Also read: Woman thrilled to spot rare albino squirrel in Ang Mo Kio again after 2 years

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Featured image adapted from David Tan on Facebook.