Meet the Bats
Despite their spooky reputation, these nocturnal mammals are gentle animals, primarily feeding on insects like moths, lacewings and midges. There are 18 species of bats found in the UK, but only a few of them are found in cities.
What they need
- One of the most important requirements for bats is suitable roosting sites, not least because these have become increasingly rare as modern building habits seal up old roosting holes. They sleep in dark, sheltered places during the day, such as holes and cavities in trees or buildings, and females gather together in maternity colonies for a few weeks during the summer to give birth and rear their babies
- Bats rely on landmarks, tending to navigate to and from feeding areas by following linear features such as rows of trees
- Moths are a particularly important food source for bats and so, in turn, are the butterfly-friendly plants that sustain them throughout the year. Some bats are particularly fond of aquatic insects and will swoop over water bodies to catch the bugs as they emerge or gather to breed and lay their eggs
- Like all wildlife, bats are vulnerable to poisons that accumulate in their bodies from the animals they eat. A clean, pesticide free environment is essential for the survival of bats and the bugs they depend on, especially since these chemicals are likely to be one of the main causes for the decline of both bats and their food prey.
What you can do to help
- Anything that provides cool and damp shelter and breeding spaces for winged bugs and their larvae will provide vital food for bats. Water features of any size, long grass, meadow or wild patches, log piles, leaf piles and compost heaps, and of course trees, shrubs and bug hotels all help
- A constant supply of butterfly-friendly flowers is essential to ensuring bats have moths to eat. You can contribute wherever you are and whatever your outdoor space – window boxes and balcony planters with butterfly-friendly flowers can be vital refuelling stations for moths travelling between parks and gardens, in turn providing food for bats. Work with your neighbours, including above and below you, to create a network of nectar-rich planting with somewhere always in bloom throughout the year
- Installing bat boxes or leaving dead trees standing provides roosting sites
- Minimise pesticides so as to encourage invertebrate prey and try to reduce outdoor lighting which is off-putting to some bats.
Fascinating facts
- Bats are the only mammals capable of true sustained flight
- Bats can live for more than 30 years, making them one of the longest-living mammals relative to their size
- You may have heard the expression “blind as a bat” yet bats actually have excellent eyesight, particularly adapted for low-light conditions, as well as using radar-like echolocation to navigate and find their prey.
