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If you’re out around dusk you’re likely to spot some of these little critters flitting around. Bats have got a reputation for being dark and mysterious – but how much do you actually know about them?
We’ve all been scared by spooky stories of vampire bats, lurking in the shadows and waiting to suck our blood.
Bats have been blighted by bad press – but there’s no reason to be frightened of them.
In fact, if you have a look at one up close, you’ll actually find they’re pretty cute critters!
And they need our help more than ever – with four of the 18 British bat species listed as threatened.
‘The greater mouseeared bat currently has one known individual left, and the grey long-eared bat, the serotine bat and the barbastelle bat are endangered, too,’ says Alex Morss, press and communications officer at the Bat Conservation Trust.
‘Some other British bat species are too scarce or under-recorded to know for sure how they are faring.
‘But there is some good news – the latest results from our National Bat Monitoring Programme indicated that several UK bat species are showing slow signs of recovery, following decades of population declines last century.
‘This is largely thanks to improved wildlife laws in recent years.’
And that can only be a good thing – because bats are a very important part of our ecosystem.
Contrary to popular myth, you won’t find a bat in the UK who feasts on blood – all UK bat species eat insects, like midges, flies, mosquitoes, moths and beetles, and some eat spiders.
All that flying uses up a lot of energy, too – acommon pipistrelle can eat over 3,000 insects in just one night.
And despite what many think, bats aren’t actually blind – but at night, they use echolocation over eyesight, which helps them assess the size and shape of everything around them.
‘Bats are valuable in helping to keep insect populations in check, which is good for people and benefits crops and gardens,’ explains Alex. ‘This insect control role is estimated to save farmers millions of pounds!’
Because of this, some of our favourite food and drinks are made available at lower prices thanks to bats – like sugar, corn and nuts.
They even pollinate the flowers that give us mango, banana and agave – used to make tequila! So, we do have a lot to thank them for.
‘Bats are a useful ‘indicator species’, because changes to their populations tells us about wider ecosystem health and biodiversity,’ says Alex. Right now, after a busy October m
