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There are 16 types of bats in the UK and 13 of
these can be found in Norfolk. These include the Common Pipistrelle,
Soprano Pipistrelle and the Brown Long-eared bat.
Because Norfolk has a lot of rural countryside,
there are many wild places where bats can live. This includes trees
and old buildings.
There are also plenty of nocturnal insects (insects
that come out at night) here in Norfolk, which the bats can feed
on.
Our rarest bat in Norfolk is the Barbastelle. We
have one of only four known breeding sites in the UK for this type
of bat, at Paston Barn.
Paston Barn is a historic building in north-west
Norfolk which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest which means
it's a very important place.
Here are 10 cool facts about bats:
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There are about 4,500 different
species of mammal in the world and 1,000 of these are bats. |
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Norfolk's most common bat, the
Pipistrelle is only 4cm long and weighs less than a 2p coin! |
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British bats only eat night-flying
insects but tropical bats also eat many other foods such as
fruit, flowers, frogs, fish and even other bats. |
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Bats don't build nests - they
live in roofs or creep into holes and cracks in trees, walls
and buildings to avoid the light. |
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Many UK bats live for around five
years although some have been known to live up to 30 years! |
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In winter, when there
aren't many flying insects, bats hibernate in cold damp places
inside buildings, caves and hollow trees. Their heart beat-drops
to two beats per minute and they live off a special brown hibernation
fat in their bodies. |
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Bats are often found in new buildings
- half of known Pipistrelle bat roosts are in houses less than
25 years old. |
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Bats produce the largest babies
in the animal kingdom. An 8 gram mother Pipistrelle bat may
produce a 2 gram baby which is 25% of its body weight. They
can only produce one baby a year. |
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Bats are not blind but they 'see'
in the dark by listening to very high-pitched echoes of their
calls bouncing off objects around them. |
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In Britain it is illegal to kill
a bat or disturb the places where they roost. |
Take a peek at our pop-up gallery of bat pictures »
Read more: Meet
Norfolk's bat man »
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