About bats
Bats are the only mammals that can actively fly. European species primarily lead a nocturnal lifestyle. They can hunt at night thanks to their well-developed echolocation abilities – a flying bat emits ultrasonic sounds (often inaudible to the human ear), which, when reflected off obstacles or prey, provide information about the surrounding world as they return to the bat.
Where do bats live?
Bats are social animals and live in colonies, especially during the breeding season when females form so-called maternity colonies, which can consist of several to even thousands of individuals.
During this time, they choose warm places such as attics, towers, well-sunned wall crevices, or beneath wooden shingles, which serve as incubators for newly born bats.
What do they eat, why, and when do they hibernate?
In late autumn and winter, when there is a shortage of food (bats feed on insects, which are not active during that time), they enter a state of hibernation – slowing down their bodily functions and lowering their body temperature to survive until spring. Their winter shelters are typically caves, tunnels, shelters, basements, sometimes wells, and cracks in buildings. Because during hibernation, bats rely on the energy reserves stored in the form of fat tissue, too many energy-costly awakenings can result in their death.
Bats primarily feed on insects, while some species also consume plants and fruits. Only three species feed on blood, primarily from birds and mammals (such as cattle and swine, but also humans) – all of them are found in South America.
Where can they be encountered?
In rural areas, summer bat colonies can be found both in the attics and lofts of residential and sacral buildings. They also utilize specially constructed bat boxes that can be hung on walls.
There are 27 species of bats in Poland, and all of them are strictly protected. In Dobków in 2010, as many as 12 species were recorded, including large breeding colonies of the common pipistrelle, whiskered bat, and Brandt’s bat.
How to observe bats
- In most places in the Land of Extinct Volcanoes, it is easy to see foraging bats at dusk during the months of May to September. This applies to both villages, forest edges, stream banks, and other locations.
- During the summer, chiropterological workshops are organized, during which you can not only see but also listen to bat echolocation using ultrasonic detectors.