Which of these diverse buildings do you think contains a bat roost?

The answer is: all of them. These buildings contain the roosts of five different bat species.

Bats have adapted to make full use of man-made structures, often without us being aware of their presence. Unlike rats and mice, roosting bats do not roam a building in search of food and do minimal damage to the building, unless they roost in particularly large numbers, when smell and droppings can become an issue.

Crevice-loving species, such as Soprano Pipistrelles (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) and Common Pipistrelles (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) are often found roosting in modern buildings. Cavity walls, and the narrow spaces between roof tiles or slates and sarking or lining below, provide perfect roosting spaces, often accessed through small gaps behind soffits (a gap of just 10mm is sufficient).

Brown Long-eared Bats (Plecotus auritus) like open attic-spaces, usually in older buildings. They often roost in the apex of the roof or in the gap between rafters and a wall. Natterer's Bats (Myotis nattereri) also tend to use old, stone-walled buildings and often roost in gaps in beam joints.

Daubenton's Bats (Myotis daubentonii) usually roost close to water and tend to seek holes and crevices in stone or concrete-built structures, such as bridges.

All bat roosts have legal protection, whether or not bats are present.

Advice on Planning

© David Dodds Ecology (2008)