Last week Geraldine and Dick collected a grounded pup from Linslade and took if to Soggy. Young bats are notoriously difficult to hand rear, but so far so good. Soggy posted some pictures on Facebook.
Photo by Irene Sabiniarz
Youngsters are equally difficult to identify but Soggy was puzzled to find the bat lacked a post calcarial lobe.
Postcalcariall lobe. Image from Bristol University
This set off alarm bells as pipistrelles have these. So, what is it? Without this lobe it is going to be a Whiskered /Brandt’s or a Daubenton’s bat.
We have no record of a house roost for any of these species and it is within flying distance of the one site we regularly find Brandts. ( Regular =once a year!) ( The North Bucks Bat Group assures us that these are North Bucks bats on a night out)
While still pondering, she asked us to collect another grounded bat from Heath and Reach. The bat had been found in a washbasin. The owners had been advised by us to leave the bat in a box in the attic where the roost is. The hope was that the mother would reclaim her youngster, but this did not happen,so we popped in on or way to Stockgrove. Sadly the but had died by the time we arrived. Bob checked it over – and once again it seemed to lack a post calcarial lobe.
We have arranged with the householders to go back in a couple of weeks when the young are likely to be flying- and this time we will try to get a poo sample,to see if it is a Whiskered/ Brandt’s. We will also try hand netting as bat detectors alone cannot distinguish between these bats with any great level of surety
If you find a grounded bat you can find what to do here