Teenager finds baby bat in her bra

A teenager was stunned to find that a baby bat had been curled up inside her bra for five hours - as she was wearing it. Abbie Hawkins, a hotel receptionist, thought her mobile phone was ringing when she felt vibrations coming from her clothes.

But she later discovered the tiny creature tucked away in the padded pocket of her underwear. As staff and colleagues crowded around, Miss Hawkins, 19, produced the frightened bat, which was the size of her hand. She said: "Once I realised it was a bat I was shocked, but then I felt quite sorry for it really.

"It looked very snug in there and I thought how mean I was for disturbing it. Miss Hawkins said she got dressed at 7.30am and arrived for work at the Holiday Inn Norwich North, near Norwich International Airport without noticing anything unusual.



"When I was driving to work I felt a slight vibration but I thought it was just my mobile phone in my jacket pocket," she said. It was not until her lunch break, at midday when she felt a strange movement inside her bra, which had been hanging on her washing line the previous night.

"I plucked up the courage to investigate and I pulled out a little baby bat. I just lost my breath when I saw it and I did not know what it was at first," she said. The teenager's general manager freed the bat in the hotel garden. "I keep thinking how could I have not known it was there?" Miss Hawkins said. "I will certainly be checking my bras every morning from now on."

Jaime Eastham, of the Bat Conservation Trust, said they had never heard of a bat being found in a bra before.But she said the animals roost anywhere that appears dark and safe.