A bat called Bovril

This evening we went out on a bat walk organized by a local nature group. The weather was pretty foul and so, even equipped with specialist bat detectors, we didn't see/hear any out in the wild. Bats themselves might be reasonably hardy, but their prey (at least in Britain) are insects, who don't venture out in the kind of winds we had today. The great thing was that the resident bat expert had anticipated our lack of bats in flight and had brought along a pipistrelle born in captivity while her mother was being cared for by a bat rescue service. This tiny creature, called Bovril, has never learned to properly echolocate because her mother flew away before she was ready to take wing - the poor little thing wouldn't survive in the wild. So she's well cared for by the bat society and does major PR work for them. Having seen this incredibly cute creature, Dd would love a pet bat: we've had to explain this would not only be cruel (except in Bovril's exceptional circumstances) and plain illegal.

Heard some other fascinating stuff. There were recordings of the bat sounds which we might have heard on a less windy night - pipistrelles sound a bit like tap dancing in a puddle; noctules seemed a bit like the old Rolf Harris wobble board, while horseshoe bats (sadly not native this far north) sound a bit like R2D2 or a modem on acid! And a fascinating fact - bats mate in autumn but the eggs are only actually fertilized when the female is ready to start pregnancy (so if a particular Spring is cold the pups can arrive a bit later). Now that's family planning! Amazing creatures - we were spellbound.