Purpose-built home for bats spurned by Lesser Horseshoe population
Anna:
August 9th, 2007
County Clare, in the west of Ireland, is home to a superior residence built especially for bats. The structure, constructed two years ago, cost the taxpayer 175,000 euros, roughly £120,000, and was built alongside the route of the Ennis by-pass. Conservationists hoped that it would attract a sizeable number of Lesser Horseshoe Bats, but 24 months on there isn’t a single bat to be found at the site.
The local County Council has kept the exact location of the house a secret, concerned about the prospect of disturbance to this rare species. The bat house was intended to provide more than simply a safe haven for the bat population, and this is why the scientific community is doubly disappointed. Technology, including infra-red sensors and a specially installed telephone line for data download, was intended to provide scientists with crucial data about the movements and behaviour of the protected species. The bats obviously have other ideas, spurning the house in favour of other roosting and breeding locations.
The diminutive Lesser Horseshoe Bat is a protected species under EU law. Present in the south-west of England and throughout Wales, the bat is found in the six western counties of Ireland - Clare, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Limerick and Mayo. Habitat disruption and renovation of favoured roosting spots, such as outhouses, stables and old houses, have seen a decline in numbers in recent decades. Undisturbed sites for winter hibernation are also important, but under threat. The Irish population currently stands at an estimated 9,500 bats, according to Bat Conservation Ireland, a charity concerned with the conservation of Ireland’s bats.
As is the case with all major UK infrastructure projects, the company contracted to build the Ennis by-pass (GAMA Construction), was required carry out detailed surveys of all the plant and animal species on the route. Protected species, among them the Lesser Horseshoe, require special measures. In this case, the construction of a bespoke bat-house, which conservationists believed would lessen the impact of the road on the bats. Sadly, environmental consultant Howard Williams of Inis Environmental Services, has found no proof that this is the case. Commissioned to assess the effectiveness of the mitigation, he confirmed in his recent report that there had been no sign of bats over the last year, both inside and outside the structure.
Mr Williams believed the site had great potential:
In short, the information we will be able to analyse at this location will give us the best opportunity ever of understanding the lesser Horseshoe Bat in Ireland.
He had, however, not given up hope that the bats would eventually move in to their luxury lodging. Work is nearing completion on a stretch of hedging which will connect the bat house with another known roosting location:
More bats will be searching out foraging areas and will inevitably find the Old Schoolhouse and more importantly, the New Build Bat House.
Many people will be unaware that the August Bank Holiday weekend is also European Bat Weekend 2007! Let’s hope the bats realise the occasion, and deem it a suitable moving in date…