Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 55: The Automatic Mosquito Swatter

After a moment, the trees rustled, and the chubby little bat came flapping toward her, wings working overtime to keep its portly body airborne.

"Miss, I was just about to sleep."

"I’m heading down the mountain now," Nancy said with a smile. "If you really want to lose weight, you can come back to my zoo with me."

"This isn't my home, so I can't stay here forever."

The chubby bat didn't hesitate for a second, nodding its head vigorously. "I'll go with you!"

Nancy felt a bit guilty about essentially kidnapping the family favorite. "Don't you need to tell your family first?"

Before she could finish, a rustling sound came from the branches above. The bat matriarch from the night before suddenly appeared, hanging upside down from a limb. She sighed as she looked at her grandson. "Where are you taking my grandson?"

The little bat ducked its head. "I'm gonna go with this lady to help me lose weight, grandma."

"Excessive weight is a real safety risk for bats," Nancy added helpfully. "Being overweight makes you slow and dulls your reflexes. If a predator finds you, you won't be able to escape."

She lowered her voice, her expression becoming solemn. "Plus, being this heavy might mean you won't be able to have any pups of your own. Obesity lowers the quality of your... little swimmers. You wouldn't want the family line to end with you, would you?"

The matriarch fell silent, clearly contemplating the gravity of the situation.

"How about this? You can send a few bats along as 'guardians' to stay at my zoo with him," Nancy suggested, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "My zoo has plenty of trees, and since it's summer, we have more mosquitoes and moths than we know what to do with. They'll never go hungry."

The bats she had met were all house bats, whose diet consisted almost entirely of mosquitoes, moths, and beetles. A single house bat could devour over a thousand insects in one night, mostly mosquitoes. Nancy had already done the math: if she brought a few bats down to live near the staff quarters, her mosquito problem would be solved instantly. They were basically organic, high-powered mosquito swatters!

The matriarch finally made her decision. "Alright, I'll let his sibblings go with him. That way they could broaden their horizons too!"

"Don't worry," Nancy chirped. "I'll take excellent care of them!"

In the end, four guardian bats and the chubby one followed Nancy down the mountain. Since the journey was too long for them—especially the little one—Nancy asked the butler for a carrier so they could travel in comfort.

As she was leaving Critters Villa, Star, the German Shepherd, came racing out to see her off. He circled Nancy, whining and complaining under his breath. "I'll come find you, miss! When I do, you better make sure you ask my owner for a couple million bucks, all he has is money. Besides, it's not like he's spending it. It's better for you to spend it."

Nancy burst out laughing. If Barry knew what Star was actually saying, he’d likely go purple with rage. Star was acting so affectionate that Barry was nearly being pulled off his feet, the leash straining to the breaking point.

Barry had intended to have one last "negotiation" with Nancy. But seeing his own dog act so desperate and "cheap" for her attention, his lips thinned into a hard line.

"I'll add another five million," Barry said, his voice flat. "Be Star’s exclusive vet. What do you say?"

Nancy shrugged, returning his own words from the day before. "Sorry. I never go out of my way for anyone."

Barry’s face darkened instantly.

Nancy waved goodbye to Star. "Don't forget our deal, okay?"

Star nodded and suddenly turned back to grab a small canvas bag, tossing it through the open window of Nancy’s car. "Miss, I heard you desperately need money and you can't afford treatment. This is my savings."

Nancy hadn't expected to be "subsidized" by a dog and tried to hand the bag back to Barry.

Barry looked at the bag, which was soaked in dog droppings and saliva, and refused to touch it. "Just keep it. It’s just some junk toys of his. They're worthless and covered in spit."

And so, Nancy headed down the mountain with her carrier of bats and a literal "slush fund" from a dog. As the car pulled away, Star chased after her for a long distance. He was as strong as an ox, and Barry eventually had to let go of the leash, turning away to avoid witnessing the embarrassing display.

At 11:30 AM, Nancy arrived at the gates of Loren Zoo.

Leon, the university student working the ticket booth, was on duty. Nancy hopped out of the car and asked eagerly, "How has the foot traffic been while I was gone?"

"You're back!" Leon replied. "I've been using your social media account to promote the place. We used to only sell a few tickets a day, but now we're consistently selling thirty or forty."

At fifty dollars a ticket, they were finally seeing a daily revenue of over a thousand.

Nancy raised an eyebrow. "That's great! At least we're heading in the right direction."

Leon leaned his chin on his hand, looking troubled. "The problem is, that income barely covers the utilities for a single day. We're still coming up short on food and medical expenses for the animals. Plus, when tourists see the animals looking so lethargic and sickly, they don't want to come back a second time."

Nancy let out a soft sigh. "There's no shortcut for health. Getting them well and back to a healthy weight takes time. Don't worry, things will get better."