Bats in Beds Oct 2020 Vol 128 www.bedsbatgroup.org.uk E mail: enquiries@bedsbatgroup.org.uk Facebook –The Bedfordshire Bat Group.

Bushbaby in Malawian Bat Box.

Renewal

Just to remind you, renewal of Bat Group

Membership is due in January but because of

Covid 19, we are extending all 2020 subs until

January 2022. Happy Christmas!

Editor’s Bit 2

Summer adventures 3

The Bats of Malawi 4 -5

The Bats of Toronto 6-7

Bedfordshire Bat

Care

8-9

The Day it rained

bats

10

Cognitive maps 11

Cats and Bats 12-13

Making Bats 13

Bat and Spells 14-15

Drunk Bats 15

Renewal 15

Daylight Bats 16

The Swan problem 17

Motherese 18

Balinese Bats 19

Cartoon 20

Bushbaby in Malawian Bat Box Photo Gwen Hitchcock

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 2 ____

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Editors' Bit

By the time you read this the

bat season will be more or less

over. Not that there will be

that much difference.

We were all too aware of the

things we couldn't do this

season because of the need for

social distancing from humans

and bats but we did manage to

get some things done. I have

tried to document as much of

this as possible. If I missed out

stuff you've been doing, let me

know and I'll try to include it

in the next issue.

Other surveys not mentioned

here will be covered in the

Survey Leaders' Meeting

which we will be holding on

Zoom. Details will be

announced on the newsgroup.

Bat Care

The

madness

continued

here as it

did elsewhere in the country

with large numbers of bats

falling foul of the weather and

this is reflected by the volume

of bat care articles in this issue

and we had a number of

enquiries to the website as the

National Bat Helpline was

overwhelmed.

The Facebook page now has

630 members, a number of

whom have given us bat

records and requests for help

with grounded bats

Hibernation Surveys

At the time of

writing BCT has

yet to say whether

or not these can

go ahead. If they

do, then the safety

of bats is

paramount (there is still a

theoretical possibility that

Covid-19 could be passed to

bats). This is likely to be

involve fewer people than

usual. Once again we will put

details on the newsgroup.

___________________________

Welcome to new

members

Matt.A. Moore (Winslow),

Becky Meredith Shaw

(Flitwick), Mara Gravenieks

and family (Harpenden).Helen

Moore & family (Bdford)

___________________________

Thanks to everyone

who helped with the

production of this

newsletter:-

Gwen Hitchcock, Toby

Thorne, Dave Bicknell, Tyrone

Capel, Becky Meredith Shaw,

Steve Parker, Alexia Fish,

Robyn Grant & Kirsty

Shawsee, Bob Cornes,

Geraldine and Dick Hogg.

Ideas for Batty gifts for

Christmas https://www.batgoods.com/

£11.00

£18.00.

Printed by

Fidelity Print and Design Unit

7 Kenneth Way, Wilstead

Industrial Park, Wilstead,

Bedford MK45 3PD

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 3 ____

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What we did in the

lockdown (with some

restrictions lifted)

Barbastelle radio

tracking in Herts.

This Herts. and Middlesex bat

Group project took an

enormous amount of work in

the planning stage by Chantal

Helm to keep people and bats

safe. Briefings were held by

Zoom. She let a number of the

Bat Group join her. Bob got to

try trapping processing and

radio tagging in masks and

gloves (wearing disposable

gloves in addition to ordinary

- a processes he found tricky

and sticky). Gwen Hitchcock

got to radio tag her first live

bat., much to her delight The

trapping and tracking teams

were kept separate and as well

as finding new roosts were

also able to 4 track bats in the

surrounding countryside.

George and Carole Baber, Phil

Cannings, Danny Fellman,

Claudia Harflett and John

Salisbury helped with radio

tracking. This provided

invaluable information to the

wood owner, who is planning

coppicing this year

___________________________

The Henlow Survey At the start and end of the first

survey Noctules were heard

by the car-park. From the car-

park the survey proceeds

toward the parish church

across the graveyard/cemetery.

On both surveys there has

been plenty of activity by the

church with Common &

Soprano Pips. One Noctule

pass and one Serotine pass

were recorded by the church

on the August survey. From

the Church the walk then goes

towards Champneys but turns

off towards the River Ivel. The

bridge by the river has plenty

of tree cover and is good for

bats including Soprano Pips,

Common Pips, and

Daubentons. The survey then

continues along tree lined

paths and tracks (with bats

including Pips and Myotis)

towards the Millennium

Meadows. The river Ivel

meanders through the

meadows with some tree

cover. Pips were heard in the

meadow, and on the August

survey a Natterer's Bat was

recorded. This survey has been

very good with plenty of bat

activity, and looks very

promising for future surveys.

The church with its Pip

activity may have a roost and

we know that Bob is

investigating this.

Dick and Geraldine Hogg.

Bats in Churches Like everything else, the

national Bats in Churches

Project was restricted by Covid

restrictions, but church

surveys were cleared to go

ahead from July. Bob did a

Bats in Churches Study survey

at Swineshead church and

"Bat Detectives" surveys at

three others. All produced

evidence of bats, with 4 species

at Swineshead (although

perhaps not all roosting).

Ampthill had droppings in the

belfry and Langford and

Millbrook had roosting Brown

Long-Eareds in the nave.

Henlow church was on the list,

but the survey couldn't be

fitted in this year. Given the

bat activity in the churchyard

(see above), it will be

interesting to see what turns

up in the church when the

survey is done next year. We

don't yet know whether

anyone else has carried out Bat

in Churches surveys in

Bedfordshire

Bob Cornes

Millbrook Church

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 4 ____

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Out of Africa….

I was lucky enough that the

Wildlife Trust BCN, who I

work for, agreed I could take a

month’s sabbatical to

volunteer with Africa Bat

Conservation (ABC) in

Malawi. ABC is an

organisation conducting

applied research, conservation

and education to conserve bat

populations in Africa. Because

of my workload I could only

take the time over the winter

months, which coincides with

Malawi’s rainy season, when

fieldwork is restricted to the

Urban Wildlife Project. Luckily

the Lilongwe base camp is

situated on the edge of the city

and doesn’t feel very

urban at all, which

was perfect for me.

Whilst the survey

methods used are

basically the same as

here, there are a lot

more bats to be

caught with at least

64 species from eight

families compared

with our 18 from two

families. After a few

false starts when

trapping nights were

rained off I finally

got to handle some

bats! We set up some

harp traps outside an

to catch the

Sundevall’s and Noack's leaf-

nosed bat (Hipposideros caffer &

H. ruber) which roost

inside. On a previous

evening we had done an

emergence survey and I

had counted 799 coming

out so even though these

little bats are experts at

avoiding the nets we were

hopeful that we’d manage

to catch some. In spite of

watching many of them fly

over, around or even

through the harp trap we

caught several. Besides the

usual data collected wing

tracings and photos were

taken, as well as a sonogram

recorded when the bat was

released, for detailed analysis

in a student project. These two

species are very similar, with

grey and orange forms of both,

however in glancing over the

photos the wing tips look

different and I am eagerly

awaiting the results of the

analysis.

Over the month I helped with

many surveys, further

trapping surveys at various

different sites using harp

traps, mist nets and hand nets,

and also bat box checks, roost

visits and weekly counts of the

straw-coloured fruit bats

(Eidolon helvum) roosting in the

trees by a church in Lilongwe.

These straw-coloured fruit

bats are an amazing species,

that migrate around sub-

Saharan Africa in massive

colonies. Every year up to 10

million straw-coloured fruit

bats congregate in Kasanka

National Park, Zambia. This is

the largest mammal migration

in the world! Whilst I only got

to see these large fruit bats at a

distance, I handled several of

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 5

the smaller little epauletted

fruit bats (Epomophorus

labiatus) and a Peters’

epauletted fruit bat

(Epomophorus crypturus) - . see

above. Such lovely bats to

work with!

Between surveys there was

lots of work to be done back at

camp, helping with mending

mist nets, restringing harp

traps, patching a broken harp

trap bag and updating the

interpretation trail at the

Lilongwe Wildlife Centre. We

had a few training session on

various techniques including

ringing, fur clipping and

taking wing punctures for

DNA analysis. On top of this

were general camp chores

including cooking and

cleaning which were

shared out on a rota

system. We were also

given some basic

Chichewa lessons so we

were able to greet and

thank people in their own

local language.

Despite several

evenings of

torrential rain

and life-threatening

lightning storms –

during which I

became very adept at

taking down traps

quickly! – I was lucky

enough to see around

a fifth of the species

recorded from

Malawi (14 species)

from six different

families:

Pteropodidae (fruit

bats), Hipposideridae

(leaf-nosed bats),

Rhinolophidae

(horseshoe bats),

Molossidae (free-

tailed bats),

Emballonuridae (tomb bats)

and Vespertilionidae (vesper

bats).

Everyone was so welcoming

and easy to get on with which

was a real blessing when you

have to live and work closely

with the same people 24/7. It

was a great opportunity to

work with some very

experienced bat workers and

amazing to see and handle so

many new bat species of

several families as well as

picking up new techniques

which will stand me in good

stead in the future.

For more information on ABC:

http//www.africanbatconserva

tion.org/ (or follow them on

facebook/twitter), There latest

newsletter is also available

here:

https://shoutout.wix.com/so/4

dN71LtU8#/main (with sign

up for future newsletters at

bottom)

https://www.travelblog.org/Bl

oggers/Dr-Gwen/Trips/34440

https://www.flickr.com/photos

/24620701@N03/albums/721577

13473067482

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 6 ____

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Some strange Canadian Bats

We asked Toby Thorne to do a

Zoom talk on his work on at

the Toronto Zoo on his work

with Canadian Bats. I had got

used to the idea that Africa

and other exotic climes

bristled with unusual bats, but

thought Canadian bats

wouldn't be so different from

British ones. How wrong I

was!

Some sound like British ones

Take Myotis liebei, the eastern

small footed myotis - like one

of ours but with small feet

right? Well only up to a point.

It is an uncommon bat with a

patchy distribution.

It hibernates in small caves

overwinter from Nov to April.

They are often found near cave

entrances where temperatures

fall lowest and humidity is low

which makes them less

susceptible to the dreaded

white nose syndrome (WNS).

It is estimated that there was

only (sic) a 12% decrease in

population between 2006 and

2011.

They hibernate in groups of at

most 50 and often far less

which also protects them from

WNS to some extent and a few

have been outside of caves

hibernating in crevices.

Not so odd I hear you say.

Wait for it. One of the big

puzzles was where they go in

summer. Bat biologists hunted

high and low with no success,

because the critter have a

counter-intuitive hiding place.

In 2011 they were found using

ground level rock roosts in

talus slopes, rock fields and

vertical cliff faces for their

summer roosts (see photo

below).

On average they change their

roosts every 1.1 days, males

travel about 41 metres

between consecutive roosts

and females around 67 metres.

They also found that females

roosting sites were closer to

ephemeral water sources than

male's roosts. Females who

have young require roost sites

that receive a lot of sunlight in

order to keep the pups warm

while the mother is away from

the roost.

To make things more crazy the

females often bask in the sun

during the day time. It is

worth bearing in mind that

there are 8 species of snake in

Canada.

A lactating female (left) and a

juvenile (right) Eastern small-

footed bat visible in the entrance

to their maternity roost.

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 7 ____

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The Tricoloured Bat gets its

name because it has blond fur

that is distinctly tricolored on

its back. Individual hairs

tricolored: dark gray at the

base, (yellowish brown in the

middle, and brown or reddish

brown at the tip. It is the

smallest Canadian bat

weighing 4.6 to 9 grams.

In 2019 it underwent an

identity crisis. For years it was

known as the Eastern

Pipistrelle, but has now been

put into its own inclusive

genus and answers to the

name of Perimyotis subflavus.

(because although it is

Myotis-like it is not Myotisy-

enough to get into that

particular club).

It hibernates deep in caves and

mines and has suffered greatly

with WNS with losses of 70%

of its population. It doesn't

hide in crevices or

hangout in groups, like

the British horseshoes it

hangs up alone.

The litter size is

typically two

individuals. As

newborns, the combined

mass of twin pups can

be as great as 58% of the

mother's postpartum

mass. Offspring develop

rapidly, beginning to fly

at three weeks old. By

four weeks old, they are

foraging for themselves

(much no doubt to

mum's relief).

Individuals can live at

least 14.8 years in the

wild; juveniles have

higher mortality rates

than adults, and females

have higher mortality

rates than males. Their

roosting behaviour is strange

to our British eyes. They hang

up in oak leaves or amongst

bony beard lichen (Usnea

trichodea) and some researchers

think it may use the lichen's

usnic acid to ward off

parasites which aren't found

on these bats.

Stopping there doesn't

mean the other Canadian

bats are dull. I just ran out

of space.

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 8 ____

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A bat care story with a happy ending

Episode 1 August 20th

It all began when a mother

and baby BLE were found in

an areas of Whipsnade Zoo

not open to the public. Enter

Tyrone who contacted UK Bat

Carers for advice

"So I'm looking for a bit of

advice from others who may

have experienced this before.

I've a BLE mum and pup just

come in today.

Mum is currently still feeding

baby but our thoughts are the

pup might be a little big and

making her weak and

subsequently unable to fly

with or without the youngster.

The toss up is whether to try

and keep them together and

focus on keeping mum healthy

to feed the baby or separate

them and rehabilitate

separately.

Any thoughts or experience

dealing with a pair in this way

would be much appreciated!"

Within minutes, advice was

forthcoming

Maggie Brown

"Water is essential for mum

(for milk production) but the

youngster will very likely copy

mum if she is taking

mealworms from a shallow

dish if he/she isn't getting

enough from mum."

Christine Sherlock

"Bat pups by definition are big

compared to Mum. I think as

long as she can feed herself

and you provide plenty of

mealworms including with

calcium supplements in the

mealworms (powdered

puppy milk) and the

mealworms have a good

source of moisture and there is

water in the cage she should

be ok. Better for pup for sure.

Is she injured? Do you know

where the roost is? Can they

go back soon or is this the long

haul? Complicated decisions

to make."

Kari Bettoney

"I wouldn't separate them

either as they will be able to

hear each other in the room

and will both be stressed. Just

give her extra food gut loaded

with RC Babydog and she

should be fine. She would

reject the baby if she couldn't

cope. BLE babies are very

immature developmentally,

and very clingy until they are

full size (and even then!) but

BLE mums are used to this!"

Tyrone took their advice and

the pair thrived.

Episode 2 1 September at 20:51 ·

"Happy to say that the mum

and pup Brown long eared

bats that came in to care a few

weeks back have been

successfully released !

Mum was released last week

and the pup released this

evening.

What was a very strange

rescue having mum and baby

together and being quite a

handful in care to say the least,

its brilliant having them

released.

Though this is just one of

many bats released this year,

this has certainly been a great

experience with an even better

result.

Thanks to Soggy and Dave for

the help and guidance as

always

And a big well done to

Lauren Timson and Mark

Wallington whose fast action

certainly made this all

possible "

Tyrone Capel

Meanwhile Dave has been

very busy. 34 Bats rescued so

far in 2020 - 3 BLE, 31 Pips,

12 Successfully released,

5 Still in care. (as at 14/09/2020)

Of the total 16 were Pups,

8 Juveniles & 10 Adults

12 Died, 5 Euthanized,

So looking on the bright side

50% survived so far.

(But obviously looking on the

dark side 50% didn't make it.)

Dave Bicknell

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 9 ____

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Becky' s Case Notes

27th July

"We were called to collect

Tuckerson from a lady's living

room. He was a tiny baby and

attempts to reunite him with

his mum failed"

So instead he was hand reared by

Becky and thrived

August 22nd

Exciting news! Frederick

Tuckerson has been at intense

‘flight school’ this week with

Irene, from the Bedfordshire

Bat Group and is ready to be

released back into the wild!

But he liked the idle life

"So after several release

attempts, it would appear

Frederick Tuckerson (the hand

reared pip) has no

stamina/hasn’t built up

enough flight muscles to

survive in the wild at the

moment. He does a few lovely

loops when released from the

hand, then ultimately crashes

on the floor! He’s done up to

10 mins in the polytunnel

previously, but now seems to

be struggling?"

10th September

He’s living loose in my big

empty shed with lots of

hanging tea towels and I’m

using a light to draw in live

insects for him to supplement

his feeding- but as this rate

Soggy and I think he may well

end up staying over Winter

and hibernating in the shed.

I've been trying to monitor

Frederick Tuckerson on my

wildlife camera for a few

nights now, he didn't do much

at all until Wednesday night-

when something seemed to

click! He did about 45 minutes

of flying, fair few crash

landings, but he's still building

up flight muscles and he's

obviously in a limited space. In

this clip it also looks like he

does attempt to catch some of

the insects I've been drawing

in with a light trap.

You can see one of attempts on

the Bat Group Facebook page

at

https://www.facebook.com/gr

oups/109943449023992

Stop Press19th

September

He was successfully

released

photos by

Becky

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 10 ____

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The Day it Rained Bats

Manchester resident Tim

Eaton started finding tiny

pipistrelle bat pups falling to

the ground from his roof,

seemingly due to their loft

maternity roost becoming too

hot during the day. Many

more were still inside the

roost, apparently abandoned

by their mothers.

He said: “I came home around

1.45pm on Wednesday and

found one bat outside my back

door. That was just the start.

After ringing the RSPCA they

put me in touch with the Bat

Helpline. During the next

couple of hours myself and my

daughters found 40 plus bats! I

contacted South Lancashire

Bat Group and with their help

we counted 60 plus young

bats.

“When the caller rang there

were 16 bats walking around

on the ground. Lots more were

exposed on the roof. Babies

were falling down into the

garden. Bats were also falling

into the neighbour’s property.

Pipistrelle pup(c) Alexia Fish

Carers from South Lancashire

Bat Group soon came to the

rescue.

They gathered

the babies,

rehydrated

them with

water and

checked their

condition.

Steve Parker

said: “These

were our first

babies to

arrive this

year. Not one

- but 63 of

them. It was a

bit of a shock

that there

were so many.

The pups

were all

between two

days and two

weeks old.

Each one was

about the size

of a cherry.”

Later, when it had cooled

down, the rescuers were able

to return the infants to the

maternity roost, and then they

carefully monitored it and

were relieved to finally see

many of the mothers returning

to collect their pups.

It is thought the dramatic rise

in temperature probably

became critical - that it became

too much for the mothers, so

they flew off somewhere

cooler during the day and left

their pups behind. When there

is warm weather they will try

to move somewhere cooler. I

saw this happen two years

ago, during another heat

wave.

Dr Orly Razgour, bat

researcher and senior lecturer

in ecology at the University of

Exeter, said: “Under global

climate change we expect to

see an increase in the

frequency and severity of heat

waves. Heat waves in

Australia over the last few

years have resulted in mass

mortality of tree roosting bats.

“There is not much known

about the effects of heat waves

on UK bats, but this is exactly

the kind of evidence we need

to be able to understand and

predict impacts of future

climate change. What this case

shows is that it is not just tree-

roosting bats, but also

maternity roosts in buildings

that are sensitive to the effects

of heat waves, and that heat

waves can negatively affect the

reproductive success of UK

bats."

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 11 ____

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Cognitive maps identified in free flying Egyptian Flying Bats

Cognitive maps allow the

construction and accumulation

of spatial knowledge, allowing

the mind's eye to visualize

images in order to reduce

cognitive load, enhance recall

and learning of information

Seven decades of research on

the “cognitive map,” the

allocentric representation of

space, (relating to spatial

representations: linked to a

reference frame based on the

external environment and

independent of one's current

location in it. For example, giving

the direction as "north" as

opposed to "right"); have

yielded key neurobiological

insights, yet field evidence

from free-ranging wild

animals is still lacking.Using a

system capable of tracking

dozens of animals

simultaneously at high

accuracy and resolution, we

assembled a large dataset of

172 foraging Egyptian fruit

bats comprising

>18 million

localizations

collected over 3449

bat-nights across 4

years. Detailed

track analysis,

combined with

translocation

experiments and

exhaustive

mapping of fruit

trees, revealed that

wild bats seldom

exhibit random search but

instead repeatedly forage in

goal-directed, long, and

straight flights that include

frequent shortcuts.

Alternative, non–map-based

strategies were ruled out by

simulations, time-lag

embedding, and other

trajectory analyses. Results are

consistent with expectations

from cognitive map–like

navigation and support

previous neurobiological

evidence from captive

bats. home range.

Researchers suggest

that such complex

foraging navigation,

considered to reflect

high cognitive ability,

may have evolved

under selective forces

similar to those

proposed for long-

lived, forest-dwelling

frugivorous primates.

(Egyptian fruit bats

feed on spatially

patchy yet temporally

predictable long-lived

resources (fruit trees), have

extreme longevity (25 years

and more) relative to body size

and are social central-place

foragers that return home to a

cave at the end of the night

rather than roost on trees

within their foraging range.

We suggest that these features

may have selected for

extended spatial memory and

high foraging navigation

performance of this and

perhaps other similar species

as well. It is interesting that

Pteropodid bats have the

largest relative brain size

among bat families, surpassing

even basal primates

reminiscent of frugivorous

primates that tend to have

larger relative brain sizes than

mostly folivorous primates A

genuine integration between

lab-based neurobiology,

experimental animal cognition

research, and field-based

movement ecology could open

new opportunities to further

unravel the components of

spatial cognition. Such

integration may also help in

understanding other long-

lasting key questions on the

neural, behavioural, and

ecological mechanisms

underlying cognitive

performance of wild animals

in their natural environments.

Source:https://science.sciencemag.

org/content/369/6500/188?fbclid=I

wAR3cOWJEA4e2JnztRXUCTbxQ

DlC2TOlLXe0axCQh64rCn4SyIue

cwcXJRX

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 12 ____

_______________________________________________________________

Do cats eat bats?

“And here Alice began to get

rather sleepy, and went on saying

to herself, in a dreamy sort of

way, 'Do cats eat bats? ... and

sometimes, 'Do bats eat cats?'

for, you see, as she couldn't

answer either question, it didn't

much matter which way she put

it"

Alice in Wonderland Lewis

Carroll

Wrong, Lewis, it does matter!

Illustration Tove Jannsen

Blog written by Robyn Grant &

Kirsty Shawsee references at end.

This from the Wiley online

journal which gives free access to

papers as long as they are cited,

Thanks to Steve Parker for

pointing me to this

In the UK, thousands of bats

are found and rehabilitated by

specialist bat carers every year,

many of them for wing tear

injuries. Indeed, when we

surveyed bat carers around the

UK, more than 2000 bats with

wing tear injuries were

reported to be taken to rescue

centres annually. This is not a

problem that is specific to the

UK, wing tears are commonly

found in bat populations

worldwide. Tears are

considered significant and

severe injuries. Despite bat

wings having resilient fibre

structures and a good blood

supply to encourage healing,

rehabilitation in captivity can

take a long time, which can

significantly affect a bat’s

health and welfare.

The causes of wing tears are

not always clear, but may

include collisions, fungal

infections and predator

attacks. We spoke to many bat

carers around the UK, and

they believed that the main

cause of wing tears were cat

attacks; however, positively

identifying a cat attack can be

difficult. In some cases cats can

present a bat to their owners,

or the tears “appear” to be

made by claws. Previous

studies have identified that 20-

68% of bats admitted to rescue

centres may be as a result of

cat attacks; however, there is

not yet an objective method to

corroborate this.

We applied an objective,

forensic DNA analysis method

to identify the presence of cat

DNA on bat wing tears. We

asked bat carers to swab bats

with wing tears and send us

the swabs. We also asked them

to take a photograph of the

tear, and tell us what they

think caused it. Overall, we

collected 72 samples from bat

carers, including 40 Common

Pipistrelles, 18 Soprano

Pipistrelles, 4 Whiskered bats,

4 brown long-eared bats, 2

Natterer’s bats and one

Serotine, as well as 3 swabs

from unknown species.

Bat wing swab sampling kit

provided to bat rehabilitators

Our results showed that 48 out

of 72 (67%) samples had cat

DNA present. The presence of

cat DNA appeared relatively

equally across different bat

genders, ages, and species,

indicating that all bats may be

targeted equally. While our

method is a very sensitive

technique for the detection of

cat DNA, this value of two-

thirds could still be an

underestimation, due to bats

not always being brought to

carers, low amounts of DNA

being transferred from the cat

to the bat during the attack

and variability in swabbing

and storage techniques.

Bat carers tended to receive

bats from a small working area

within a 20 mile radius. The

same bat carers sent us many

samples, especially in Kent

and East Dorset, so we also

looked at using forensic DNA

profiling to identify individual

cats within these areas. We did

not identify any of the same

individuals. Other studies

have suggested that there are

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 13

likely to be “super predator

cats” that repeatedly target bat

roosts, so identifying any

individuals that repeatedly

predate on bats within a small

area will be a useful thing to

do in the future.

Photographs of the tears

showed that when cat DNA

was present, these tears were

often large, running from the

internal membrane to the

trailing edge, and tended to

appear in the more proximal

wing sections, close to the

body. When bat carers

supplied the suspected cause

of the tear, they successfully

identified a cat attack in all but

one sample (in 93% of all

cases). This confirms that bat

carers are able to make strong,

positive identifications of cat

attacks.

An example of a bat wing tear

close to the body, and an

illustration of the most commonly

affected areas of the bat wing

Free-roaming domestic cats

cause a huge number of bird

and mammal fatalities and,

with the number of cats

increasing annually, the effect

of cat predation on wildlife is

only likely to rise.

Unfortunately, this means that

the number of injured bats

from cat attacks is also likely

to increase in the future. As

well as causing wing tears, cat

attacks can also lead to

bacterial diseases in bats. Cats

may even receive a viral

infection from the bats, such as

Nipah virus and European bat

lyssaviruses, which can lead to

cat mortality. We would

suggest that night-time

curfews for cats, as well as

anti-predator collars, will have

beneficial impacts on the local

bats as well as other nearby

wildlife.

This is the first time that cat

attacks on bats have been

objectively identified using

forensic DNA analysis

techniques. Our results

suggest that cat predation on

bats, at least in the UK, is

likely to be much higher than

previously estimated. A better

understanding of cat and bat

interactions has implications

for both cat and bat

populations, as well as their

welfare.

/ecologyandevolution.blog/202

0/07/07/bat-catastrophe-the-

cause-of-many-wing-tears-in-

uk-

bats/?fbclid=IwAR0RMe1SRyj

H6dwhgNlpKkMPtVbM3nqp

A7NcjZ0XZDt2LU9HMU0wq6

HiCVQd

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com

/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.6544

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

What to do in lockdown

With the coming of Autumn

why not make some of these

bats. Cut cardboard bat shape

and add twigs and leaves and

a couple of goggle eyes

Note I managed this Gill, so

think it is easy.

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 14 ____

_______________________________________________________________

Another trawl in the

archives

101 Uses for a dead bat. Nos. 13-32 “Eye of Newt, and toe of frog

Wool of bat8and tongue of

dog” Macbeth iv:1:15

*”Wool of bat” is actually

probably a reference to a

plant, but what the heck

As Halloween draws close, maybe now is the time to dust down that spell book and start casting.

With apologies to all the witches

amongst you for the use of such

stereotyped imagery

For men If you want a girl to dance with you, write her name in bat’s blood on a piece of paper and drop it on the ground. If she walks on it she is yours.

For women According to an ancient Egyptian papyrus to attract a man, take the eye of a bat while still alive, then let it go. Take uncooked flour or unrefined wax and make a dog figurine out of it. Insert the bat’s eyes into this model. Place it in a vessel and leave it at the crossroads. The man will then come to you

To punish an erring husband Place a live bat in a pot and roast it. The man will feel the same pain

Protection spells According to an old Syrian text “Put a bat’s head in the covering of thy head and though shall never be vanquished. Hang its eyes on thy person and thou shalt not be afraid of the scorpion” . USA Ozark pioneers

believed that to protect

yourself from bullets, you

should carry a

powdered bat’s

heart about your

person

To become invisible If you are a Tyrolean gypsy,

carry a bat’s left eye with you.

In Oklahoma carry the right

eye of a bat which has been

pierced with a brass pin. In

the West Indies drink bat

blood.

To see in the dark or darken

sight

Some spells say that rubbing bat’s blood into your eyes. Helps you see in the dark, though another spell says you do that to blind an enemy

To induce lust A spell from Texas:- Place a

bat on an anthill and leave it

there till all the flesh is

removed. Wear its wishbone

around your neck. Pulverise

the remaining bones and mix

with vodka. Give this to the

object of your affection and

you’re home and dry. There is

a German version of this spell

that involves mixing pulverised

bat bones in beer. Pliny, a first

century Roman wrote that

surreptitiously placing a clot of

bat’s blood under a woman’s

pillow would induce desire.

To stop a baby crying

Apaches used to attach a

bat skin to a baby’s

cradle to stop it being

frightened. In Canada,

the head and dried

intestines of a bat were

dried and hung over the baby’s

crib to make it sleep all day.

To remain vigilant at night Didymus the Blind, a fourth

century mystic claimed that if

you cut the head off a live bat,

tied it up in black skin and

placed it by a person’s left arm

they will not sleep until the

parcelled bat is removed. A

Greco-Roman spell for

preventing sleep involved

putting an engraving of a bat

under your pillow.

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 15 ____

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Native American Dog soldiers

were elite warriors, one of

whose task was to guard the

camps at night. Their ferocious

appearance was designed to

scare. Their totem animal,

perhaps not surprisingly, was

the bat.

And finally, just in case you

think only nasty pagan types

come up with rituals involving

bats: -

To save souls It was once believed that damaged souls came back as bats, which might explain the following grotesque Christian ritual. Take a bat and let it bleed to death over a piece

silk. Each drop of blood you count is one soul saved from hell

The Bedfordshire Bat Group strongly advises its members not to try any of the above at

home or a policeman will be knocking at your door, not because your man- summoning spell has worked, but. because it is illegal to harm bats.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Why do you never see a drunk bat ?

Humans’ evolutionary history

with ethanol (alcohol) pre-

dates anthropogenic sources -

possibly, frugivorous

ancestors are responsible for

modern humans’ unusually

efficient ethanol metabolism.

Naturally fermenting nectars

and fruits produce ethanol

concentrations of 3.8% and

8.1%, respectively, and

“*b+eing able to eat a lot of

fruit or nectar without being

subject to the effects of ethanol

would certainly open up an

important food resource.”

Similarly, some frugivorous

and nectarivorous lineages

(e.g., great apes, aye-ayes,

bats) are capable of efficiently

metabolizing dietary ethanol -

phyllostomids (leaf-nosed

bats), for example, “seem to be

able to tolerate ethanol and

imbibing has no effect on their

flying abilities, even at blood

alcohol concentrations that

qualify a human as legally

intoxicated.”

Learn more @ https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/

10.1098/rsbl.2020.0070

and

https://www.newscientist.com/article/

2242002-analysis-of-85-animals-

reveals-which-are-best-at-holding-

their-

alcohol/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSN

S&utm_content=news&utm_medium=

RSS&utm_source=NSNS

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ariel, (′′spirit of the Air ", one

of the characters of William

Shakespeare's ′′ The Tempest ′′

comedy), riding a Bat.

Work based on the painting by

Joseph Arthur Palliser Severn

(1830). Cameo in shell, 18 ct

gold frame., probably a work

by Saulini.

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 16 ____

_______________________________________________________________

Daylight Feeding Time

Blyth’s horseshoe bat

(Rhinolophus lepidus) on

Tioman Island, Malaysia—an

isolated forested island in the

South China Sea, is the first

known bat in Asia to be

recorded flying and hunting

during the day*. Insect eating

bats are rarely seen flying and

feeding during the day

presumably because of the

strong competition and threat

of being hunted by birds.

Nonetheless, rare reports of

day-active bats have been

recorded during times with

extended or continuous

daylight during summer, at a

sheltered forests site with high

insect food supply, and on

isolated islands with few bird

predators. That these bats

hunted by day was confirmed

by feeding

buzzes on

sonograms.

In Europe

the Azorean

bat

(Nyctalus

azoreum) is a

species of

bat found in

the dry

forests of

the Azores.

It is the only

species of

mammal

endemic to

the Azores

and is

related to

the Lesser

Noctule.

Like the Blyth's Horseshoe it

thrives as there are no birds

about to predate on it.

Blyth's Horseshoe bat photo ©

Marcus Chua/De Gruyter

Azorean Bat internet

* During our Borneo trip in 2007, Bob

and I saw Bornean Horseshoe Bats

foraging in woodland during the day. We

assumed it was a well-known

phenomenon there, but perhaps it wasn't.

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 17 ____

_______________________________________________________________

The Swan Problem Remember this beast from the

June issue? She and her young

caused chaos at Stockgrove,

coming over to explore

potential swan feeders, who

appeared at the lakeside with a

torch (so kind of them tro

advertise their preseence lke

that) and then swimming in

the light beam keeping the

bats away.We were getting

counts of zero.A number of

solutions presented

themselves:

1. Shoot the swans

a non starter, before you ring

the RSPB.

2. Position someone with food at another location

Likely to fail, cunning

creatures swans, they would

just tip off their friends and

relations and still come to the

light.

So let's try another approach.

3.Lets get rid of the torch. The bats can fly but we can't

see them O LET'So

4. Use the thermal imager Trouble is ours will not be

powerful enough to "see" the

far side of the lake. and ones

that are cost a fortune.

5. Get horribly technical Use a bat detector in the dark

on a very narrow "beam" so

we swample a thin slice of

water, the width of the current

torch beam.

This will take time to develop.

Working plan so far is to build

some kind of parabolic

reflector whch can be fitted

onto a detector.

Parallel rays coming into a

parabolic mirror are focused at

a point F. The vertex is V, and

the axis of symmetry passes

through V and F. For off-axis

reflectors (with just the part of

the paraboloid between the

points P1 and P3), the receiver

is still placed at the focus of

the paraboloid, but it does not

cast a shadow onto the

reflector (thank you

Wikipedia).

It will come as no surprise that

such a thing is not available

commercially. So it is back to

the drawing board (literally).

And lo, we have a project for

the winter. If this was an

American TV show we would

make a successful model in

afternoon. It isn't, we won't.

And if we do succeed there is

no guarantee the swans will

leave us or the bats in peace.

However you may still

remember from earlier edition

that Gill and Ant spent

lockdown playing with their

new 3-D Printer. So Bob rang

them and was told it was a

possibility and was given a

website much loved by 3D

printer nerd which might be a

useful resource.

As the season wore on the

swans got less interested in

our activities, but they may

have guessed what we are up

to. Cunning creatures, swans.

gulp

spit

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 18 ____

_______________________________________________________________

Mother-pup pair of the greater sac-

winged bat, Saccopteryx bilineata, in

their daytime roost. The pup (dark fur

colour) is holding on to the mother's

belly (light fur colour). Credit:

Michael Stifter

Mother bats use baby talk to communicate with their pups

When talking to babies,

humans slow down their

speech, raise their pitch and

change the "colour" of their

voice. This 'baby talk,' as

people know it, increases the

infant's attention and

facilitates language learning.

Among animals, mothers often

engage in pup-directed

vocalizations too, but does this

also imply voice changes? A

team of scientists that included

Smithsonian Tropical Research

Institute (STRI) researchers

explored whether infant-

directed communication in

bats resulted in vocalization

changes.

They focused on the greater

sac-winged bat Saccopteryx

bilineata, a common Central

and South American species

with a large vocal repertoire

employed in the elaboration of

complex songs for territorial

defence and courtship. Female

choice in mating is very

pronounced in this species,

which probably led to the

complexity of courtship

vocalizations in males.

During their first three months

of life, as S. bilineata pups start

experimenting with their

'speech,' female and male

adult bats respond to them

differently. Through sound

recordings of their vocal

interactions, the research team

found that mother bats interact

with pups as they "babble,"

which could be interpreted as

positive feedback to pups

during vocal practice.

Much like human baby talk,

the pup-directed vocalizations

of adult females presented a

different 'colour' and pitch

than the calls directed towards

other adult bats. Male bats also

communicated with the pups,

but in a way that seemed to

transmit the "vocal signature"

of their social group.

"Pup isolation calls are

acoustically more similar to

those of males from the same

social group than to those of

other males," said Mirjam

Knörnschild, STRI research

associate and co-author of the

paper. "These results suggest

that adult male vocalizations

may serve as guidance for the

development of group

signatures in pup calls."

This is the first time that

scientists describe a

phenomenon that could

resemble baby talk among

bats, indicating that parent-

offspring communication in

bats is more complex than

previously thought and

opening new avenues for

further research.

"These results show that social

feedback is important during

vocal development, not only in

humans but also in other

vocal-learning species like

Saccopteryx bilineata," said

Ahana Fernandez, former

STRI visiting scientist who

conducted this research as part

of her doctoral thesis at the

Free University Berlin and is

now a post-doctoral researcher

at the Natural History

Museum in Berlin. "I believe

that bats are a very promising

taxon to investigate key shared

features of language, such as

the vocal learning ability, and

that this study will inspire

further studies in the

biolinguistics field."

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-mother-

baby-

pups.html?fbclid=IwAR3odR4zfW0o7

LRvMHBQCYjn6rj0zYFd2X_g0JY-

IYwljtyEjYFK43tF9ko

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 19 ____

_______________________________________________________________

Bali - Indonesia

Pura Goa Lawah, the Bat Cave

Temple, is located along the

coast of southeastern Bali, The

Bat Cave Temple indeed lives

up to its name, Lawah is Bat in

Balinese language, for three –

tier structure stand at the

entrance to a large cave. The

cave is inhabited by thousands

of flying bats that hang from

the rocky ceiling by the day

and depart on food hunts in

explosion of black wings every

evening. These large fruit bats

are believe to be the temple’s

guardians and are considered

sacred – as are the large

python that live in the

neighbouring rocks. The bats’

lair is rumoured to lead

underground all the way to

Pura Beakih; other stories have

in tunnelling beneath the

Badung strait to the Pura

Peed temple on Nusa

penida. This sacred temple

was founded in 1007 by the

holy Sage from Java, Mpu

Kuturan. The temple is one

of Sad Kahyangan (six

great temples of Bali). the

temple and the cave is an

obligatory site of Nyekah

(deification of the deceased

family member soul)

pilgrimage. Balinese

believe the cave harbours

an enormous dragon, Naga

Basuki, the mythical

serpent of universe and the

caretaker of the earth’s

equilibrium. A tale is told

how a prince of Mengwi

actually entered the sacred

cave to prove that he was the

rightful descendent of Mengwi

king, and emerged at Besakih,

but his feat was never

duplicated – entering the cave

is now forbidden.

By Schnobby - Own work, CC BY-SA

3.0,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ind

ex.php?curid=28006152

Gold encrusted bat

sculpture

Bats in Beds - The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2020 Vol 128 20 ____

_______________________________________________________________ My favourite cartoonist has been at it again:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/28/despite-bats-being-critically-important-to-our-ecology-and-

adorable-we-treat-them-with-disdain