Bats in the garden

Reisman

Ok a very interesting thing happened in my sister in laws whilst having a barbeque. A small bat basically fell right in the middle of where we were sitting. Semi d house in an estate in Dunboyne. Looked like he came from the tiled roof of the kitchen extension we were sitting at the side of. Put him/her into a lunchbox and released to the woods close by. Two more came from the same place and managed to fly away. I'm convinced the barbeque smoked the poor guys/girls out. Some people at the barbeque were quite freaked out and wanted to know should they be concerned with bats quite obviously living somewhere within their extension roof. I know I should've got a photo or two, but hey it wasn't my house.

Anyone any similar experiences?

HeidiHeidi

Yep, my sister's house in NI had a huge colony (not sure if that's the correct term) living in their attic, or maybe just the eaves of their very rural house.

At their annual bbq, the bats flying out for their night's hunting was quite the spectacle.

As far as I know they do absolutely no harm, and anyway are a protected species, so mess with them/their nests at your peril. (open to correction on that, but I'm fairly sure of it)

endacl

Bats do no harm at all. In fact, with the biblical plague of flyin' critters at the moment due to the heat, you should be glad to have them around!

If lived in various parts of Dublin since I was a kid, and have always seen bats flitting around the place at dusk. They're actually quite common and widespread. If you've any living in the eaves of your house its unlikely you'd even know unless you went looking for them. If your hearing is good you can actually hear them if you're outside on a still night. Its at the upper end of audible, but its there all right.

Out of interest, when I was living in Queensland, these would have been a common sight at dusk, gliding up and down the highways and byways. About a three foot wingspan!

Cedrus

It could be a pup and there is a nursery in the extension, if so they won't be there for much longer, the mother bats group together in warm nurseries to birth and raise the pups during the summer. They do this because they can't hunt and feed with the pups, who are left with nanny bats during the hunting night. The mothers take it in turns to do the nannying. When the pups can fly, they all head off for an autumn of social excess and then find a cool place to hibernate for the winter.

Bats are protected in law and it is illegal to interfere with them but as they are possibly only visitors, it may be possible to exclude a future visit AFTER they have left. Contact batconservationireland or the local Wildlife Ranger for advice how.

Reisman

Thanks for the replies guys. Brother in law is going to speak to the good people at Dublin zoo for advice.

annalee

Hi - agree with all the above but be warned of one very significant danger about bats. If they contaminate your water tank in the attic with their faeces or if one falls in to your tank the contaminated water if swallowed by children can cause very serious illness and even death . So to be on the safe side we should all have our water tanks covered.