Squirrel eats bat at S'pore Botanic Gardens

Avid wildlife photographer David Tan had his hands full photographing a migratory bird at the Singapore Botanical Gardens on Oct. 5 when he witnessed a peculiar sight — a plantain squirrel devouring a bat.

Sharing his photographs with the Singapore Wildlife Sightings community in a Facebook post, Tan cautioned viewers about the slightly graphic nature of, well, nature.

Take a look at this wide-eyed omnivorous squirrel with its meal:

Sharing his experience with Mothership, Tan said the squirrel "climbed higher up the tree" and took over 45 minutes to consume the bat before scurrying off with the remains, hypothesising that it might be feeding its young.

Instead of consuming "its usual diet of fruits and nuts", the bat was its preferred choice of meal for the day.

Here's a video of the squirrel enjoying its lunch:

Many 'surprised' to learn that squirrels are omnivorous

Many online commenters shared similar sentiments as Tan, with some joking that cartoons have "conditioned us" to think that squirrels only ate fruits and nuts.

When asked whether the squirrel had hunted or scavenged for it, Tan responded that the squirrel was already devouring the bat when first spotted, and he was unsure of its provenance.

More on plantain squirrels

Plantain squirrels, also known as the common red-bellied squirrels, are native to Singapore.

This species is easily identified by its white eye ring, long bushy tail and reddish-brown inner limbs.

Currently, these squirrels maintain a sizeable population in Singapore and are not considered threatened.

And yes, they are indeed omnivorous in nature.

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Top image from David Tan/Facebook