Bats in Ireland

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about bats? 

Blood-suckers?            Evil creatures?                   Batman? 

Well, we are not really sure about these ones, but one thing that we are really sure about is that bats are not as scary as you may think.

Brown Long-eared Bat

Now, you are probably thinking that bats have nothing in common with you, but we are actually more alike than you think. Bats are mammals, and so are we. That means bats have warm blood, give birth (rather than laying eggs) and feed their babies with milk as well.

 In Ireland, you can find nine different bat species and all of them belong to the Bat Sub-order Microchiroptera. All of the Irish bat species consume only insects, so you don't need to worry about your blood! Bats are nocturnal creatures, which means they always go out during the night and that's why superstitious people invented the myths and legends about evil bats.

Bats are usually spotted in trees, caves and old buildings and bridges. It is possible to find bats in residential areas, hidden in roofs and holes. They leave traces such as droppings and remains of the insects they've eaten.

In case you find bats in your house, there is no need to panic. These are some myths that we want to break:

• Bats do not spread diseases
• Bats do not get caught in your hair
• Bats are not blind
• Bats do not chew cables or wood
• Bats do not bring nesting material into houses
• Bats are more closely related to humans than to mice

 If you want to see bats in Ireland you can go to the Renville Woods, only 5 miles away from Galway, especially around dusk (sunset). Other places to go watch bats could be local areas of freshwater and trees – such as rivers or canals.

You can also find out more about bats in Ireland through this link for Bat Conservation Ireland  HERE and a leaflet HERE.

The Galway Bat Group is organising walks around Galway for those who are interested in bats. You can check their schedule through this LINK.

All these information were found though the Notice Nature WEBSITE and along with very useful LINKS.

Lesser Horseshoe Bat

Bat Helpline: 1800 405 000

 By Cathrine and Samanta (March 2012)