Batty 'bout Bats

In '75 I, this is me , first got my first introduction to bats. I found what I thought was a baby bat lying on the pavement near my house. I could find no information on bats other than where they lived and what they ate. This little bat lived for a couple of months on a diet of diluted cows milk, water and as many flies I could catch. Disaster struck when we went to England for a two-week break. The bat came with us traveling in its shoebox home under the seat. My cousins were so enthusiastic to catch flies that they used fly spray. The bat only lived a few days into the vacation. I will never know for sure what finished it off.

Bats never entered my life again until the late 80s. I received a 'phone call from a friend asking if I wanted to see a bat the cat had brought home. He had remembered from our school days that I was interested in wildlife. I went to see the bat out of curiosity and I hadn't a clue what it was. I thought that all bats were the same sort as my pet bat from years ago. The belief that all bats are just little brown creatures still exists today in the publics mind.

I phoned the Ulster Museum in Belfast to enquire about the bat and they sent out their bat worker to have a look. I didnt know they had a Zoology department in which a bat group was based. He took the bat away and 'phoned me the next day to tell me it was a Natterer's bat and the species had not been recorded in the area for a long time. About 10 years after reporting the find I found a photo of the bat. It was actually a Long-eared bat!! During the following weeks the museum asked me several times if I could rescue bats that had found their way into houses. I did this quite often that summer and was dismayed by the number of bats that died after being caught by cats.

The following summer I was asked if I would like to train to become a licensed bat worker which would enable me to get more involved in bat conservation in my own area. I had to follow a licensed worker around while she was in my area doing bat calls. All I had to do was be quiet and take in all she said to householders. This took quite a while and I had to continue my learning process the next bat season. A bat worker, who didn't know me, accessed me by taking me to a house where the owners had just discovered they had bats. I had to do all the talking while he listened. On the way back home he told me he was recommend I get my license.

Each summer since I have gained more and more knowledge about bats. I now know that the bat I had, as a pet, was not a baby but an adult Soprano Pipistrelle and at the time there were 6 species of bat in Northern Ireland. I now share my knowledge with others by giving lectures that are usually followed by a walk looking for bats. 

Ca. 10 years ago I met Jon Russ who was studying bat echolocation at Queens University Belfast. He needed to record all of N. Ireland's bats to analyze their calls using a computer. He came to the places I was going to where I gave advise and he got his recordings. His enthusiasm for bats rubbed on to me and I now go out looking for bats especially the rare ones.

I have been filmed for BBC1 NI, BBC2 NI and Ulster Television, interviewed on radio and for newspapers and assisted in training workshops. More recently I presented a lecture at the National Bat Conference when it was held in Belfast.

For two days this year, July '05, I was filmed for a new BBC programme called 'Hands on Nature' which will go out this autumn across the network. People in Europe with satellite TV will be able to watch it too.

Mark