Completely bats!

Buying an old property often means you get rather more than you bargained for… and I don’t just mean dry rot, woodworm and a leaky roof - I mean resident wildlife!

I hadn’t been living at Victoria Farm long when a chap knocked on the front door and politely told me I had bats! A bat enthusiast who lived in the village, he had seen bats going in and out of an attic in one the old farm buildings we have here.

So, he came along one evening with his bat detector/counter, sat in the dusk watching a hole up in the gable end of the building and then, having checked up in the attic, told us we were the proud ‘owners’ of a lesser horseshoe bat nursery roost! I know, not the sort of thing you get told every day, but there you are, that’s rural living!

The bat gets its name from its horseshoe-shaped nose. It is one of the world's smallest bats, weighing only about 8 grams, with a wingspan up to 25 cm and a body length of about 4cm – so less than 2 inches – really tiny!

Bats are protected and cannot be disturbed. Luckily for us, the attic has always been unused and their roost is no inconvenience at all. We respect their space, keep the access free of vegetation, and they get on and do what mummy bats do.

Contrary to what you might think, they don’t make a lot of mess. As they eat only insects their droppings are fine and powdery – we call it ‘bat dust’.

Over the 27-odd years I’ve lived here now, the colony has grown and, at the last count, had around 140 little bats in it. If we sit outside on a warm summer’s evening, you can see them flitting about and flying off down the valley but, other than that, we are not aware of them.

The colony is made up of breeding mothers and their young. Females give birth to one pup weighing less than 2 grams at birth. The bats are only with us for three months each year – June, July and August – so I expect any day now, they will start arriving, finding their place in the roof and settling down to give birth and rear their young. The mothers, and their daughters, will then return to the roost next year and so the cycle continues…

Sadly, lesser horseshoe bats are in decline due things such as the disturbance of roosts, changes in agricultural practices and the loss of suitable foraging habitats. Well, be assured – no-one is going to disturb our bats – long may they thrive!

Comments

[margaret driscoll]

Hello Joanna
So glad you are doing your bit..well a large bit really!
I live in a conservation area of Bristol, and though I don't know where they come from, I see them at night near the trees catching the moths and bugs .
I don't think I could touch one, but they are all part of the habit in which we live.
LoveMarg

[Kate]

Hi Joanna,

I love bats ever since we had them in our old barn at the stables where I kept my horse. Same as yours, in the Summer they would give us a lovely display as they came and went. I didn't know they were only here in the Summer though, I just thought that's the only time we see them, so where do they go for the rest of the year, do they migrate like birds?

Hugs
Kate
x

[Prickles]

Hi Joanna, wher do your bats go when they are not in your attic? Do they migrate?

[sallyann]

Id love to hold a bat..they are so cute with their big chihuahua ears. they used to fly around my old house. i live in a new build property now and they have put bat boxes on them..so we all have one...i havent seen any visitors yet tho. xx

[Joanna Mackintosh]

Hi Joanna, we have bats in the attic of our house - the only problems they cause is when we go up there to get stuff out (like the xmas decorations) and we have a lot of sweeping up to do of the 'bat dust' before we can touch anything :) We did have one swoop over my head as I was taking a tray of tea upstairs to the builders one lunchtime - almost made me drop the lot! I guess they'd disturbed him somehow, I found him clinging to the wallpaper in the hallway and encouraged him outside again. Joanna

[Brenda]

Hello Joanna
Bats are very interesting and it lovely to learn about how they breed and with them living near you it must be a lovely experience for you. A few years we had bats flying past our home going from the local church in Kingsteignton and flying into some very tall trees. The children enjoyed seeing this in the evening and loved counting how many they could see, I think we got to about fourty one time and after watching this happening, we then would go indoors and get out the books about bats and would learn more about them. The children thoroughly enjoyed all of this around August time and I have happy memories of this time. Thank you for your blogs I have learn a lot reading.them
Best wishes Brenda

[Rosemarie]

How amazing are these little creatures, i used to be afraid of them - all the old wives tales you hear about them - but now I know more about them I love watching them and learning about all the different types there are. Thank you for sharing this lovely bit of animal informtion with us.

[Joanna Sheen]

Thanks for all your interesting 'batty' comments! As for "Where do they go for the rest of the year...?" I was told they go down the valley and live in the trees - as simple as that! Smiles, Joanna.

[Rosie (Wendy)]

Hi Joanna
This brought back lovely memories. Before we moved to Beaford nine years ago, we lived just outside Shebbear, in west Devon, in a converted coach house, and had a thriving colony of bats, to my shame I can't remember what species they were! We used to find odd ones in the house, and one day found one that the cats had had hold of, but was still alive. The "batman" lived about four miles away, so a rapid phone call and visit to him. He thought the bat was in shock, but may survive, so we left it with him, with the instruction to ring him the day after, as if it survived it had to go back "home" Imagine our delight the following day when he told us it was doing fine, had been flying around his kitchen, and we went to pick it up. He instructed me to go outside at dusk, put the bat in the palm of my hand, to warm it, and wait for it to wake up! This I duly did, and it was utterly magical to watch it start stirring, and then, as I held my arm out at head height, it slowly crawled up to my fingertips, and took off! I'll never forget the feeling, but sorry to say, we have a few bats where we are now, but none living with us, although they roost somewhere near, as we see them in the padock of an evening. x