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Dispel the myths about bats and find out more about these incredible mammals on Friday 23rd August when the NI Bat Group will meet at at Bessbrook Library for a Bat Night at 8.30pm, followed by a walk around the village.
Danielle Begley, Biodiversity Officer for Down and Newry and Mourne District Councils explained, “Bats are shy and unobtrusive animals, seen only in the dim light at dusk. Their wings make them look bigger than they really are, and as they swoop down after insects, people may sometimes feel uneasy. Just not knowing much about them leads to misconceptions.”
Dispelling a couple of the most common myths about bats, Robin Moffitt from the Northern Ireland Bat Group says, “Bats are not blind – they actually have good eyesight; and, bats will not drink your blood, - well at least the ones we get in Northern Ireland don’t! To find out more about our bats, please come along to your local bat night”.
Danielle continued, ‘These bat events are being run as part of the Biodiversity Games, which is a recording project supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, ‘Your Heritage’ Programme in partnership with seven other Biodiversity Officers which aims to get people involved in helping their local biodiversity by ‘getting them recording’.’
There will be a few bat detectors available which convert the high pitched calls of the bats used for echo location, to a lower frequency audible to humans. Each species calls at a particular range of frequencies, making various noises described as ‘smacks’, ‘slaps’, ‘clicks’ and ‘ticks’. By reading the frequency on the detector, and listening to their calls, the species of bat can be identified.
If you are interested in finding out more about bats, come along! (Please wear suitable clothing and bring a torch). For further information contact Danielle Begley, Biodiversity Officer tel; (028) 3031 3100 or email; Danielle.begley@newryandmourne.gov.uk Details can also be found on the Council websites or on www.biodiversityni.com
