Daubenton’s Bat

Created Jan 2008
Last updated April 2018

Myotis daubentonii ( Kuhl 1819)

Daubenton’s bat are medium sized bats with a body length of 45 to 55 mm. They weigh 6 – 12g. (about the weight of a £1 coin). They have medium to dark brown even fur of The ventral fur is silver or brownish.
They are also known as the water bat because they send much of their time feeding on the surface of still lakes and rivers. They scoop their prey off the surface of the water with their specially adapted large feet.

Their echolocation calls peak around 47 kHz 

Daubenton’s have a highly characteristic flight pattern over water. where they swoop down to remove insects from the surface with their large feet

They have large hairs between their toes which act a bit like tea strainers, helping them catch their prey which they then flip into their mouth as they carry on feeding. Feeding activity over the lake makes a sound like a chip pan frying rather too vigorously.

Because the only bats found to have Lyssavirus are Daubenton’s fishermen are advised to use gloves when entangling any that caught on their hooks.

In hibernation sites they are often easy to spot. You can see condensation on the fur.  Sometimes they tuck themselves  behind crumbling brickwork which makes them hard to spot. If you look very closely, you may be able to spot the hairs on its feet.

.

Daubenton’s roost in trees, often in disused green woodpecker roosts. These can often be spotted by a marked staining running down the trunk which is formed by the copious amounts of urine which the bats produce.  They can be found in quite small trees

Daubenton’s bat is quite widespread in Bedfordshire and its distribution correlates well with major bodies of water. We see them regularly at Stockgrove. At Priory and Harrold  Odell Country Parks they can be a little harder to find as the water bodies there are larger and the bats concentrate in areas of quiet water.(Waves on the water make it harder to detect insects.)

Our most unusual ever record of a Daubenton’s bat is the one shown in the photograph below.We can’t tell for sure if this is an albino or leucistic animal ie does it lack all pigment or does it have pigmented eyes) This was e mailed to us by a member of the public.

More information

http://www.bio.bris.ac.uk/research/bats/britishbats/index.htm

http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/uk_bat_species.html