FAQ

What should I do if I find a stranded/injured bat?

Please do note that the Bat Group has approximately 8 injured bat carers currently. We are all doing this voluntarily and we may need you to bring the bat to one of us for treatment, rather than have us collect it.

• We always recommend the wearing of gloves for handling any wild animal including bats. You can also pick up the bat in a tea towel or similar instead. Handle the bat as little as possible. It is possible for wild mammals to carry rabies. There is a tiny risk of this and this is the reason you should wear gloves – if you do not come into contact with blood or saliva there should be no risk to yourself. For more details on rabies Click here –

• Don't be too concerned if it squeaks (sometimes quite a lot) this is simply a frightened animal trying to get you to leave it alone!

• No attempt should be made to open the bats wings or inspect it for injuries that aren't obvious.

• The bat should be offered a drink of water off the end of a teaspoon or something similar. It will drink readily if thirsty.

• The bat should be transferred to a secure box with air holes and some sort of material to provide crevices for it to hide in. It should be borne in mind that bats are escape artists. They are often torpid when found and appear to be in much worse condition than is often the case. Once warmed-up even an injured bat will often explore it's environment vigorously. No receptacle containing water should be left in the box, as the bat is likely to have a bath in it accidentally.

• The box should be placed in a warm, undisturbed environment.

• The South Lancashire Bat Group should be contacted straight away on 0161 764 8850.

• Exact details of where the bat was found are required for returning the bat to the wild when fit.

• Are Bats Blind? -

  No. They can actually see fairly well although you can tell that their main sense is that of hearing, due to the size of their sensory organs - ears!

• Do Bats carry disease?

  Only 4 bats have been found to be carrying the Rabies European Bat Lyssavirus (EBL2) in the last 18 years in the UK. We know this because a screening programme has been in place for the last 18 years and has tested over 4000 bats. One of these two bats was thought to have possibly come from the continent. All bats were of the Daubenton's species. Humans very rarely encounter this species, as they tend to live in places such as bridges and culverts, preferring these to housing. They also feed when it is very dark, usually over a still water body such as a pond or reservoir. As they do not come into contact with people very often, it is highly unlikely that a member of the public will contract the disease from a bat. If you find a grounded bat, or indeed any injured animal, it should only be handled whilst wearing gloves, or ideally with bats it should be scooped up in a soft cloth and secured in a box with air holes. The rabies lyssavirus can only be contracted by a bite, scratch, or blood contact so if you don't come directly into contact with the bat there is no risk. Only a tiny 4% of UK Daubentons' bats are known to have come into contact with the disease.

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• Do bats drink blood?

  No British bats drink blood. They all feed on insects. Throughout the world bats feed on a wide variety of foods, including insects, fruit, fish, frogs, nectar and there are three species out of about 1200 that drink blood. They inhabit tropical and Subtropical areas only.

• Are Bats Rodents?

  No. Bats are actually more closely related to humans than mice. Most people are surprised at this mainly because of their wings, but all the wings are is the forearm and fingers, which have been elongated with a thin skin membrane between them.

• Are Bats Vermin?

  No. Bats cause no damage to humans, either physically or medically. In fact they help us by clearing the air of insects like midges, gnats and moths, and rather than treating them as vermin the UK government has chosen to protect them legally.

• Do Bats damage property?

  The largest UK bat is the size of a small pear. The commonest UK bat, the Pipistrelle, has teeth which are not even strong enough to break our skin, if they bite us at all, so they don't stand much chance of damaging wood and concrete. The only evidence you may see of bats in buildings is a few droppings, which are harmless. A bats main interest in life is feeding, sleeping and making baby bats, not damaging their homes.

• Do bats fly into your hair?

  The way that bats fly, in their swooping, gliding fashion, leads people to believe that they could end up getting caught in our hair. This is not the case. The bats fly like this to catch insects, but their echolocation skills mean that they know where you and your hair are, so they are not going to fly into it. What benefit does the bats get by flying into your head? A broken wing, maybe, nothing else, so why should it do that.

• What do bats eat?

  All UK bats eat insects from midges and moths to spiders and even beetles. For example a single pipistrelle bat will eat on average 3000 midges per night during the summer.

• Where do bats live?

  Bats should live in trees and caves, but humans have had the effect of reducing these places, so bats have had to find new places to live. Pipistrelle and Serotines choose buildings like houses and factories to roost in. Others prefer places that include bridges, barns, Churches (porches and roofs, not the belfry, as the saying suggests!) mines, ice houses, cracks in cliffs, vaults, bunkers and deep basements, as well as old nest holes of birds, including bat boxes. Some bats may actually be better off in these "new" roosts, although losing their natural roosts is one of the main problems in bat conservation.

• Which areas does the South Lancs Bat Group cover?

  Take a look at this map.

• Why are bats endangered?

  Loss of natural roost sites such as trees which, are removed for development, and change of land use, and suitable trees (old ones with holes in) being cut down, for public safety reasons. Caves roosts are often visited by vandals and are used in recreational activities with little or no regard for bats living there. Buildings that bats use are refurbished and modified, sometimes destroying the roost and it's entry. Ignorance is one of the main factors. Bats are generally portrayed as vermin, and unfortunately many of the public still believe this. Land use change from woodland to arable farmland and removal of hedgerows and loss of ponds all contribute to a decline in bat numbers. Fragmentation of the landscape, in this manner, also plays a part. Use of insecticides, pesticides and animal medicine lead to reduced numbers of the insects that bats eat. Climate change could also have a big effect; during a particularly long winter, some bats may not survive the hibernation as they use a lot of energy during this period. This energy needs to be built up in the preceding autumn, and again, if the weather has been poor during this time they may not have had the chance to build up the energy reserves necessary. Female British bats usually only have one baby a year so if number reduce dramatically due to loss of summer roosts or poor climate conditions, it takes the bat population a longer time to recover than if they had three or four litters a year.

• Are Bats protected?

  Yes. All British bats fall within the remit of Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981, as amended by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, as well as European conventions and the Conservation (Natural habitats & co) Regulations of 1994. It is illegal to kill, injure or disturb a bat in the UK. It is also illegal to damage, destroy or obstruct a bat roost. Why is conservation of bats important? - Numbers of bats in the UK are in serious decline. There are very few known maternity roosts of the Barbastelle bat in the UK, as an example. The Greater Mouse-Eared Bat is so endangered it was even declared extinct from the UK in 1991. More recently a single male of the species has been found regularly hibernating in a cave in Sussex. This is how serious the problem is. Other species like the Grey Long Eared bat, Bechstein's bat and the Greater Horseshoe bats are now confined to living in a very small area of Southern England. This is why they need protection.

• What can I do?

  You can help by joining the South Lancashire Bat Group. Just by joining you help further the cause of bat conservation. There are a number of things you can do within the group which all help towards this aim.

• How can I get involved?

  Fill in the membership form on this site and send it to the address shown, or send a donation to the same address.

• Where can I buy Batty gifts?

  The South Lancashire Bat Group has a stall of Batty items at shows in the area. You can find us at many of these. Do this by completing the membership form.

• What's good about bats, what purpose do they serve? -

  A common question, and one that is relatively easy to answer. Why do they need a purpose, they just exist, just like every other animal on earth. But there are still some who need an answer; bats are natures best pest control system. In a single night one pipistrelle bat can eat up to 3000 insects. They do not pollute rivers or land and as such are much more efficient at insect control than insecticides, as they have no side effects. Bats are also very important in assessing the "health" of certain environments. They act as an indicator species as they are top predators at the top of their food chain. In other parts of the world bats have important functions in pollination of plants as they feed on nectar, and collect and distribute pollen as they do this. The agarve cactus which produces the fruit that we make tequila from, would probably not exists without bats, as they are the key pollinators of this species. In poorer countries where bats are present in large numbers, they produce large amounts of guano (droppings), which locals collect and sell as fertiliser. In China bats are considered a symbol of luck. Bats are also an extremely successful species. Due to having wings, they are able to exploit a number of ecological niches, unavailable to other terrestrial animals. Apart from all this, bats have a very pleasing aesthetic quality. Just watching these magnificent creatures flying around on a warm summers night, is extremely relaxing and even therapeutic. But don't just take our word for this. You could visit one of those parks listed on this site and watch them for yourselves, or join the bat group as we do this all the time.

• How can I find out more about bats? - Join South Lancashire Bat Group. You can find the membership form on this site and send it to the address shown. Alternatively look in your local library, or the other websites linked from this one.