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Wild Animals
Bats
There are over 2,000 species of bat in the world and they are often classified into two groups which are fruit eating bats and smaller insect eating bats. England has seventeen native insect eating bats. Bats are built for flight. They are the only mammals that have real wings. These wings are not feathered like birds wings, but are made of elastic membranes (flaps of skin). These membranes are supported and spread by the bat’s very long front limbs and elongated fingers. The mastery of flight bats have attained is so complete that few insects can out manoeuvre them in the air. Bats have a silent fluttering style of flying which is perfectly suited for catching insects. Insects are often scooped up by a flap of skin between the bat’s hind legs and then eaten while the bat is still in flight. Bats are not blind (they have reasonable eyesight), but nearly all bats have very good hearing. They rely more on their hearing to be able to hunt at night. Some bats have very big ears, like the long-eared bats, and this allows the bat to hear the sound of moths flying from a few metres away.
Bat (Barbastelle)
The Barbastelle bat is a rare bat that can mostly be found in the south of England in woodland areas close to water, but sometimes it will visit large rural gardens. It has a pinky
Bat (Bechstein's)
The Bechstein’s Bat is the most endangered bat in England and can only be found in the south west in deciduous woodlands. It is also the second rarest bat in England, after the Gr
Bat (Brandt's)
The Brandt’s Bat is quite a small bat that can mainly be found in woodlands in the north and west of England. The Brandt’s Bat is sometimes mistaken for the Whiskered Bat, altho
Bat (Brown Long-eared)
The Brown Long-eared Bat is quite a common bat that can be found throughout the country in parks, mature gardens, in hedgerows and in woodlands. It has long ears that are nearly the
Bat (Common Pipistrelle)
The Common Pipistrelle Bat is very widespread and common and can be found throughout England in woodlands, parks, mature gardens and in villages. It is also related to the Soprano P
Bat (Daubenton's)
The Daubenton’s Bat is a very common bat that can be found throughout England near ponds, canals, lakes and slow-flowing rivers. It is sometimes called the ‘water bat’ because
Bat (Greater Horseshoe)
The Greater Horseshoe Bat is quite a large and rare bat that is found mainly in the south west of England in meadows and woodland clearings where it hunts for insects. The bat’s n
Bat (Greater Mouse-eared)
The Greater Mouse-eared Bat is one of the largest bats in England and is also the rarest bat in the country. It was believed to have become extinct in 1991, but two individual Gre
Bat (Grey Long-eared)
The Grey Long-eared Bat is a very rare bat that can only be found in the south of England because it is warmer there. It can’t tolerate cold winters. It can be seen in mature gard
Bat (Leisler's)
The Leisler’s Bat is considered to be quite a rare bat and it is believed that only a few thousand of these bats actually live in England. It can be seen in marshes, meadows and o
Bat (Lesser Horseshoe)
The Lesser Horseshoe Bat is quite a rare bat that is generally only found in open woodlands in the south west of England. It is believed to be one of the smallest bats in the world
Bat (Nathusius' Pipistrelle)
The Nathusius’ Pipistrelle bat is very rare in England and is mainly found in Leicestershire and in the south west of England. It can be seen on the edges of woodlands near to wat
Bat (Natterer's)
The Natterer’s Bat is quite a rare bat that is more likely to be seen in the south of England in open woodlands, farmlands, grasslands and mature parks. It is also called the ‘r
Bat (Noctule)
The Noctule bat is one of the largest of our seventeen native bat species. It can be found all over the country in marshes, meadows, in large woodland clearings, parks and sometimes
Bat (Serotine)
The Serotine Bat is one of England’s largest bats and is considered to be quite rare. It can mainly be found in the south of England in open woodlands, parks and mature rural gard
Bat (Soprano Pipistrelle)
The Soprano Pipistrelle bat is a very common bat that can be found throughout England in gardens, parks, woodlands and wetlands. It has its name ‘Soprano’ because it has a disti
Bat (Whiskered)
The Whiskered Bat is one of our seventeen native bats found in England. It can be found throughout the country in open woodlands, meadows and grassland close to water. It is also fo
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