Bats are some of the most charismatic wildlife which we have. They are funny and lovely and adorable and very useful. They eat insects and are an important indicator that our ecosystem is in good nick.
There are many things which you can do for bats and many of them involve you doing nothing at all.
Bats often hibernate in roof spaces in the winter – so just leave them to get on with it. There is no need to call pest control – bats are clean and quiet.
Bats also use trees for this purpose. If you have trees in your garden, especially older ones, if they aren’t about to fall on your house, just leave them there.
The Northern Ireland Bat Group are a very active group which holds talks and activities for children. They also tell you have to identify your bats!
Link onto their page to see how you can get involved or indeed find out about the bats in your area.
Here are three fascinating facts about bats:
- You can use a bat detector to detect the kind of bat – it works on a series of clicks and pips – essentially bats have different kinds of calls. The bat detector makes their sonic frequencies audible to human beings.
- There are 8 types of bat in Northern Ireland. They are Common pipistrelle, Soprano pipistrelle, Nathusius’s pipistrelle, Leisler’s bat, Brown long-eared bat, Whiskered bat, Daubenton’s bat, Natterer’s bat.
- Bats have nurseries where mothers and young roost together and look after their young. A female bat mates before winter, overwinters and then becomes pregnant when spring arrives.
Here are some bat related activities from the Bat Conservation Trust.
You can make an origami bat, a bat hat and learn to draw a bat. Bats are our friends! We should love them. If you find a bat call the Northern Ireland Bat Group and they will come and rescue it for you!
