All About Magazine - Issue 11

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People have always lived with bats, in past centuries
much more closely than we do now. Before glass was
used in windows we would have shared our houses
intimately with these creatures.
Seventy years ago my mother encountered them
in her draughty school in Monmouthshire, while
exploring forbidden underground passages. They
hung on the dark, dank walls, fascinating the curious
schoolgirl. In medieval times bats were admired for
their friendly habit of roosting together, hanging on
walls like bunches of grapes.
Most of us are still happy to give them roof if not
room space, though bat colonies continue to be
disturbed and destroyed when roofs are renovated,
despite legal protection.
The loss of old hollow trees resulting from themodern
compulsion for tidiness in the countryside has also
been a blow to bat colonies. Food supplies have
dwindled with a steep decline in the abundance and
diversity of insects.
A pipistrelle needs to find 3,000 midges and
mosquitoes a night to keep itself on the wing; other
bats snap up moths, beetles and craneflies. Growing
honeysuckle, night-scented stocks and other good
nectar plants in our gardens can be a real boost for
them. If you have space, plant a hedge or a native
tree; these will encourage a good insect supply.
Look out for pipistrelles from sunset. They are our
commonest bats; you see them twisting and turning
around buildings, streetlights, hedges and trees.
Brown long-eared bats fly close to trees, hovering like
big butterflies, while Daubenton’s hunt over water,
seizing insects in their big, hairy feet.
A bat watching event is being held on Saturday
August 15th near Oswestry. It involves a short ride
on a vintage train, followed by a 1-mile walk back
with Shropshire Bat Group, looking and listening for
bats.
For full details see .
uk/whats-on
Bats
by Sarah Gibson -
The Pipistrelle (above), and Serotine (inset) one of the largest UK’s largest bats
Shropshire
Wildlife Trust
ALL ABOUT MAGAZINE | FEATURE 41