Discovering a flying fox, stapled to a board has left a Bendigo wildlife rescuer asking "Why?".
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Mr Williams found the flying fox dead in this condition, with the board nailed to a tree on the Marong Road, in Golden Square on Sunday.
A volunteer rescuer with Wildlife Victoria, he believes the bat was probably dead when it was nailed to the board, but doesn't know for certain.
He could not see why someone would do such a thing.
"I just don't understand why you would do it. I hope that the animal was dead before it was put on the board, in all likelihood it was," Mr Williams said.
"My guess is someone's found it and decided to hang it up as bit of a macabre display."
Mr Williams was called to the incident on Sunday, between midday and 1pm.
It was called in by a member of the public, who was concerned about the welfare of the animal.
Mr Williams said the caller was fairly confident the animal was dead, but the wildlife rescuers still had to go to make sure.
He said he did not think the bat was associated with the house it was found in front of.
"It was prominently displayed out the front of this property, and anybody past going past would have seen it," he said.
He doubted whether anyone would be able to nail a bat to the board without being bitten or scratched.
Mr Williams said he had notified the Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning of the incident.
DELWP has confirmed it will investigate the incident.
Forest and Wildlife Officer Ms Phuong Tran said as a threatened species, it was illegal to scare, harm or disturb them without a license, permit or authorisation.
Under the Wildlife Act the maximum penalty for destroying wildlife is a fine of $38,685 and/or 24 months' imprisonment.
"As with other native wildlife, flying foxes should not be handled except by authorised carers or officers," Ms Tran said.
"There is no health risk associated with having flying foxes visiting fruit trees or roosting in trees however, these animals can carry the Australian Bat Lyssavirus which can be transmitted to people from a bite or scratch from an infected animal."
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