Batty about Bats
UK Chiropteran species include three pipistrelle species: Pipistrellus pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus and P. nathusii, along with 15 other recorded bat species in mainland UK.
Volunteer-run local bat groups in the UK have various schemes to install bat boxes and check occupants regularly, as a means of gauging populations, and recording which species are present and using surrounding habitats in these scheme areas. This information is vital for national recording of bat species.
This weekend we were checking bat boxes prior to winter hibernation – when bats go into torpor – weighing individuals, checking for general health, and learning how to distinguish between the three pipistrelle species based on common morphological differences, courtesy of the wonderful volunteers in my local bat group.
It was amazing for me to get so close to these amazing animals which I’ve been studying both personally and as part of my job for a few years! It was a bit like Christmas coming early!
I have now had my first rabies vaccination jab, with the following two vaccinations booked for this month. Once I have rabies immunity I will be able to handle bats and work towards a class licence for bats as part of my work.
I don’t really understand those who don’t think bats are incredible, highly-adapted and fascinating animals, and likewise those who can’t see how cute they are! See for yourself with these images I took while conducting bat box checks with the Staffordshire Bat Group.
Batman Forever: An October Slideshow | Sierra Club
These images are just stunning.
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/slideshow/batman-forever-october-slideshow
Black-Light Detects White-Nose Syndrome in Bats
https://www2.usgs.gov/envirohealth/cbp/headlines/2014-09-11-uv_tool.html
“U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and collaborators discovered that long-wave ultraviolet (UV) light directed at the wings of bats with white-nose syndrome (WNS) produced points of distinctive orange-yellow fluorescence. The orange-yellow glow corresponds directly with microscopic skin lesions that define the current “gold standard” for diagnosing WNS.”
Dragon Mother 
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