As bat workers, we invest a lot of time into trying to persuaded the public that there is nothing to be afraid of as far as bats are concerned. Sometimes it seems we are fighting a losing battle with the media who do all they can to make them as scary as possible by using wildly inappropriate photos. But this one just has to take the biscuit.
On January 26th 2012,The Shropshire Star reported a planning application to convert Shrewsbury Old Maltings had been refused because no bat survey had been carried out. As the building was pre 1960s , this was a legal requirement.
So work has to wait until an appropriate survey can be done ( to see what is appropriate see our page Bats and Planning) and if there are present they must follow the guidelines about suitable lighting, developed by the Bat Conservation Trust and the Institute of Lighting engineers .
This photo spread like wildfire amongst the bat worker Facebook community. The Bat conservation Trust then contacted them and persuaded them to replace this snap of a bat which is not even British with one which reflected more accurately the actual situation, supplied by BCT.
Photo off Nathusius pipistrelle by Hugh Clarke (C) Bat Conservation Trust
You can read the original article in full here.
Find out more about Nathusius pipistrelles here