Fife and Kinross Bat Group

This week’s speaker’s topic was Bats.  Claiming to be a pensioner and gardener with an interest in bats, Peter Evans is a member of the Fife and Kinross Bat Group and he gave an interesting talk with audio recordings of different types of bats. The Fife and Kinross group operates predominantly in East and Central Fife. 

Bat Conservation Trust based in London collates the data about bats locally. Peter sought to introduce bats to his garden to control  pests in his garden without using chemical insecticides. Bats do not have a good reputation. They have been reviled and persecuted over the years. Negative images such as Halloween and superstitious practices like bat blood being antidote for snake bites.

Bats are important in world wide ecology. They are the top predator for nocturnal insects. There are more than 1300 bat species, the largest with 2 metres. 18 species in the UK and all are insectivorous. 

Changes in land use and gardening have contributed to reduction in the number of bats. Diminishing food supply and destruction of roosts have impinged on the welfare of bats. 

Common species in Scotland include Common pipistrelle, Soprano pipistrelle, Daubenton’s bat, Brown long-eared bat and Natterer’s bat.

Peter demonstrated a bat detector that could be tuned to a particular frequency range. He also gave out instructions of how to build your own bat box or buy ready made on Amazon.

On behalf of the club, Roger Hall gave the formal vote of thanks saying how fascinating and informative he had found the talk.