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Squeeeee!! Just seen a bat

60 replies

Soubriquet · 20/05/2020 21:53

I love bats

I used to sit down and watch them fly by the house all the time. I moved in October and I haven’t seen any in years

There is one now flying by the doors. Flying quite close actually and is swooping over our heads. Amazing to watch.

OP posts:
Aquamarine1029 · 20/05/2020 21:54

I adore bats. Love to watch them fly about.

JayAlfredPrufrock · 20/05/2020 21:56

Love em.

AnneLovesGilbert · 20/05/2020 21:56

Oh god I hate them. I had a Batman type moment in a tunnel once and haven’t found a way to embrace the fear...

mogloveseggs · 20/05/2020 21:57

They're out here most nights at the moment it's fab to watch!

LoseLooseLucy · 20/05/2020 21:58

They fly over my yard every evening as it’s going dark, I love watching them.

Llareggub · 20/05/2020 21:58

Don’t eat it!

Soubriquet · 20/05/2020 22:00

Wouldn’t dream of it!

I just love watching how elegant they are

I’m trying to make my garden really wildlife friendly now. I’ve got a bee garden, a bee drinking pool.

I would love a hedgehog tunnel but my littlest dog would actually fit through it Hmm

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Somanysocks · 20/05/2020 22:00

@Llareggub beat me to it 😄

EggysMom · 20/05/2020 22:01

I lived in a house with bats in the (unreachable part of the) roof space - lovely creatures Smile

Soubriquet · 20/05/2020 22:03

Wow. I would love that

I’m pretty sure this is a nocturne bat. The description of it matches what I saw but I used to see pipistrelles at the old house

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Bluntness100 · 20/05/2020 22:10

We have bats living in the attic. They didn’t declare them when we bought the house. Which legally they should have, First night we could hear scratching in the wall behind our bed. I was spooked, My husband said “I reckon we have bats”. And we do, and then some.

I’m not a fan, you can see them flying around at dusk or dawn, hear them scratching in the walls and ceilings, if I leave the windows open when it gets dark one always flies in by mistake, and all you can do is shut the door,open the windows and wait till it flies out... and we keep finding babies, they either fall down the chimneys and plop on the floor when you’re watching tv, or I find them hiding in random ornaments they have crawled into. Last year we found five dead babies on the patio (not all at once, throughout the summer.)

They fly clinging to their mothers tummy and fall off, or they crawl in the roof space hence why they fall down the chimneys.

I think it’s a huge colony up there as they only have one baby a year. So we have at least 20 bats living in there, likely a lot more as I doubt every baby died or appeared in the house. The attic is boarded up and I’d not fancy opening it. They have also damaged the paint work on the beams on the outside of the house as they scratch their way in and out,,at several points.

However they are protected so live with them we must, it’s not a huge inconvenience, it’s just a bit of a ball ache now and again. Visitors are fascinated, ive never felt that fascination. My husband used to think he loved bats, now it’s a bit like, “ah fuck, there’s a bat in the living room”.

WatchingFromTheWings · 20/05/2020 22:12

Sat here an hour ago watching dozens of them flying round the garden! Too dark to see anything now though.

Lalala205 · 20/05/2020 22:12

Ex neighbour had a bat detector to help log the numbers for the local area years ago. It was very nice to pop over and hear them chirrup on the radar even if you couldn't see them. I like bat's! Have been lucky enough to handle a few (rescue).... I like their little squishy face 😳

AnyFucker · 20/05/2020 22:15

I lie and watch bats every clear spring/summer evening from my sitting room. Fascinating creatures.

Sarcelle · 20/05/2020 22:17

They make me feel ill, more so than rats etc.

Sparklfairy · 20/05/2020 22:19

Oh my god that's spooky @Soubriquet. I was sitting outside half an hour ago and saw LOADS. I've never seen them round here before, ever. I was torn between being fascinated by their silent, erratic flying and stifling a serious case of the shivers. My DM is helping by sending me lots of pictures of their demonic looking faces Grin

Soubriquet · 20/05/2020 22:22

GrinGrin

See I would enjoy that Bluntness though I would be upset finding dead babies.

My dh would probably freak out if a bat was in the house though

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HairyFloppins · 20/05/2020 22:24

They fly over my house at night time.

I don't really like them they give me the creeps.

It was the worst experience of my life going through the bat thing at Chester zoo.

Lalala205 · 20/05/2020 22:25

@Bluntness100 Christ, I can definately imagine that is much less fascinating! I also like rats and had a big cage set up for them in my teens. However, I'm far less fussed to have outdoor ones chewing through my brickwork and setting up nests in the house uninvited 😒 The outdoors is much nicer remaining outdoors IMHO... Including big arsed spiders.

Lilithpaws · 20/05/2020 22:25

Lurking in my barn.

Squeeeee!! Just seen a bat
Soubriquet · 20/05/2020 22:39

Oh wow!!! That’s not a small one either

Any idea of species?

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SpangledPandemonium · 20/05/2020 22:44

I have grown very fond of them. For my lockdownexercise 've been walking to the canal each evening to watch them. They seem to disappear then reappear in a completely different place. I can understand why they are associated with the supernatural.

Beekeeper1 · 20/05/2020 22:51

@Soubriquet - if it is a Noctule you saw there will be no mistaking it; they are our biggest native bat with a wingspan of up to 15 inches and fly much more slowly than Pipistrelles and the smaller bat species. I have only been fortunate enough to see a Noctule twice in my entire life, more's the pity. Have a huge colony of Pipistrelles in my loft space, a huge privilege. I used to live beside a watercourse and frequently saw Daubentons which, again, are quite a large species, pale grey in colour and fly low over water, taking insects from the water surface, almost 'kissing' it as they do so - fantastic to watch!

Institutkarite · 20/05/2020 22:55

We have very rare bats living in a part of our property, our house is in a town but we have barns. One attic in the barn is a designated home for lesser horseshoe bats. We cannot alter it in any way without permission.
Where I live bats have more protection than property. If anyone interferes with a bats roost it's a criminal offence.
We had to have an ecology report when we wanted to re roof the barns. I asked the ecologist why bats are so protected. It's all to do with pesticides, bats eat thousands of insects every night. So if the bat population is high it could reduce the need for pesticides.
That's a good reason for me.

Gingaaarghpussy · 20/05/2020 23:08

When I was on holiday with my then boyfriend, we went for a walk at dusk, arm in arm and a bat flew between us. His mother had a fit, when we told her because she was brought up believing that bats can get tangled in your hair.
Bats amaze me. I live in a town so dont see them much now.