help please with bat

[mooky]

[IMG]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n140/Mooky_011/peter035.jpg[/IMG]

I have just found this little creature in my kitchen. He is covered on cobwebs and cat hairs. Moving a little . I have placed him in a container away from cat but I don't know what to do with him. I don't want to touch him as his teeth look sharp. Any ideas. He's making a chattering noise.

[cooperlola]

Try p.m-ing or e-mailing Chrispp.  He may not be looking in and is probably best placed to advise.

[chris pp]

I'm only a phone call away.. 05 49 87 65 18  but I'll be out tomorrow so it will have to be tonight.

Chris

[cooperlola]

What happened in the end?

[Lori]

I'm curious too what happened.

Chris - we have about a dozen bats (or more at various times) that make their daytime homes in between our volets and the wall(s) of the house (when volets are folded open).  Is there any reason to be concerned about this?  One day I went to close the volets to stop the sun coming in (hot day) and about 15 bats went wild flying away.  Really gave me a scare as there were so many of them.

[AnOther]

I have one or two bats living in my hangar. Unfortunately I inadvertently injured one the other day. I was demolishing a small mezzaine level and I think he must have been between the wall and the wooden beam running parallel with it. When I knocked it down I discovered him laying on the floor squawking furiously.

I picked him up and although there was no obvious signs of injury he couldn't fly. He was still quite spunky though, trying to bite me and squawking even more so I put him in a dark corner where he just curled up and when I came back an hour or so later he was gone so hopefully he was more shocked than injured.

 

[chris pp]

Lori, Some species of bats will hang out for the day behind shutters or something similar, small space, dark and hot, so nothing to be concerned about at all. It's best if you can avoid disturbing them as they are asleep and happy where they are. Others will get under roof tiles or perhaps a crack in a barn beam. This is literally just their summer gite, nothing to do with breeding or having young and it's usually south facing.

Ernie, I guess the above says it all really, maybe you only shocked it or maybe it was injured.

Chris

 

 

[Lori]

Thanks Chris.  That is good to know.  They do tend to like the south facing volets best, but have been known to take up shelter in the others too.  When I went to close the particular volet that had so many hidden behind it, they really did give me a scare when they all started to fly off at the same time.  Neighbors had to come see what the scream was about.  

[chris pp]

If you put bat boxes up on the south or southish face they will use them instead. In our house they just use the holes in the stonework.

Chris

[mooky]

Sorry bI haven't answered before, just out non stop.

Little batty perked up a bit after  I had got cobwebs and some cat hairs off him. He started to open his wings a little. I put a fly in his box which he ate. I also gave him some water on a spoon. As it got dark I put a oven glove on (really didn't fancy his sharp teeth) and gently hung him on a large nail in the wall, in the barn. He wasn't there in the morning.

I was very fascinated by him, especially his tiny feet. I hope he survived.

[Lori]

I hope so too Mooky.  They really are amazing to watch, especially at sunset when they enjoy  flying about, I assume looking for food.

Chris, forgive me, but what is a bat box?  I'd be happy to put them on the south side if I can find/make them.

[Clair]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/wildbritain/gardenwildlife/myspace/content.shtml?15

Building a bat box

[WJT]

I would love to make one but unfortunately not handy at all. [:(] Ebay.fr doesn't seem to have them but the UK site does, so for those that aren't up to building one may be interested in buying. I am having them hide behind my shutters as well so would like to give this a try.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BAT-NESTING-ROOSTING-NEST-BOXES-BATS-ROOST-BOX_W0QQitemZ220252829868QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220252829868&_trkparms=72%3A982%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

[Lori]

I see.  I like the buying one idea.  They don't seem too expensive, but the site doesn't seem to ship outside the

UK, so I am trying to find a French one.  While searching I came across this place:

http://www.maisondelachauvesouris.com/

If I lived up North, I'd certain pay them a visit.  Looks fascinating.

[Jonzjob]

We had the spectical of one flying around us when we were having our dinner for several days. The problem was that it was deep winter and we were in our dining room and it was within inches of us. I eventually managed to catch it, a little Pipestrell (sorry aout the spelling?) and it was so wonderful and so very light. I put it in a box with some food and water to try to get it to go back into hibernation. The poor thing didn't make it to the spring, almost, but not to be. They are wonderful flyers and, I think, beautiful animals!

I love watching them on a summer dusk evening, darting about the sky. They are masters of flying, just like the swifts, swallows and martins, but using sound rather than good eye sight...

[Clair]

Saw this yesterday

Teenager finds baby bat in her bra

[Jonzjob]

Makes a change from having them in yer bellfrey I suppose?

I was putting some oil on our volets this morning. OH had shut them too to keep the sun out of the room. This is normal. When I reached up to do the top hinge guess what?

[IMG]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f180/Jonzjob/Bat2.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f180/Jonzjob/Bat1.jpg[/IMG]

I nearly dropped me oil bottle. We haven't seen it there before, but we haven't been looking there before?? We will from now on. Unfortunately we have to shut the volets because the room gets very hot otherwise. I will see about making a bat box!!

It is about 2 1/2 inches long, is that too big for a pipestrel Chris?

I think that this is a smashing poem [:D]

The Bat

Myself, I rather like the bat,
It's not a mouse, it's not a rat.
It has no feathers, yet has wings,
It's quite inaudible when it sings,
It zigzags through the evening air
And never lands on ladies' hair,
A fact of which men spend their lives
Attempting to convince their wives.

—Ogden Nash

[chris pp]

It looks to be a Pipistrelle de Nathusius -  Nathusius Pipistrelle bat, it's larger than the other Pipistrelles with a denser and longer "fur coat", the other features seem right.

Super photo as always John.[:D]

Chris

[Jonzjob]

Thank you Chris. It vacated it's hideway when the sun started to come round onto that wall.

It was lovely to see it though.

[AnOther]

Looks pretty much the same as my little casualty [;-)]

[Lori]

Yes, same as most of mine too.  There were a couple of bats that were much bigger on the volet that had so many hidden behind it.  I'd say two or three were double the size or more.  Their wings looked slightly different too. 

Chris, if you're looking in, do different species hide together?

They were all spectacular, but the big ones were the ones that gave me the biggest scare.

[chris pp]

The common pipistrelle is small and tends to be a light reddish brown, (see below), and is probably the most common bat around houses.You can see some other photos on PP under Bats in France, again I have other photos not yet on there, (big groan).

Bats of differents species are quite happy to be in each others company but different species will use different types of places to hang out. Commonly behind shutters are Long eared bats, different species of pipistrelle and barbastelle.

[IMG]http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q73/unautremonde/Oddments/Pippistrelle.jpg[/IMG]

Chris

[Lori]

Thanks Chris.  Yes, the small ones are the ones I find most often here.  The bigger ones looked different.  I will see if I can find a web photo that looks similar.