BAT: revenge of the affronted council tenants

MANY people are squeamish about bats and I must confess to finding some of the Central and South American species pretty hard to stomach myself. In particular, I'm thinking of blood-drinking vampire bats and giant bird-eating bats whose gruesome nocturnal activites have been featured in gory close-up on TV.

Our own bats, however, are quite attractive in comparison and enjoy feeding on insects, doing us all a favour in the process by keeping numbers down.

At present, we have 16 species of bats in this country, 11 of which are already scarce or rare.

We used to have 17 species but in 1991 the mouse-eared bat was finally declared extinct after years of teetering on the edge of the abyss.

Our commonest bat, the pipistrelle, weighs about five grammes, which is less than a pound coin and miniscule in comparison to the huge fruit bat found in tropical forests.

Shakespeare was fond of using bats to help create an atmosphere of foreboding, as in 'Macbeth':"Ere the bat has flown His cloister'd flight, ere, to black Hecate's summons The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done A deed of dreadful note."

Despite their sinister reputation, bats are actually quite fascinating creatures and the more you learn about them, the more fascinating they become.

They are not blind but prefer to hunt at night when more insects are on the wing, using sophisticated echolocation to track down their prey. Although they have been compared to mice, they are not related to mice at all.

In fact, unlike mice, they can live for up tp 30 years which is quite amazing for such a small mammal.

Equally incredible is the fact that even the tiniest pipistrelle bat can munch its way through 3,000 insects in a single night.

But such an appetite is obviously necessary to provide fuel for yet more frenetic flight.

The biggest threat to bats remains Man and his ceaseless destruction of their roosts, whether these happen to be in old buildings or inside ancient trees.

But bat fans would have cheered recently when bats hit back, courtesy of the law courts.

In what was said to be a landmark case, Leicestershire County Council was fined £2,500, with £400 costs, after being found guilty of damaging a bat roost at one of their properties.

A local company which carried out the roof work for the authority was also fined £1,000 with £225 costs.

It was apparently the first time a prosecution had been brought under the Conservation Regulations 1994 for the protection of bats.

Following the case, a spokesman for the Bat Conservation Trust, said:"The result has massive implications. It is now clear that the onus is on local authorities to ensure that surveys for bats and other protected wildlife are conducted before proceeding with any work on buildings owned by them. They cannot leave the responsibility to their contractors."

Local councils, be warned. Bats are on the march.