MEET YOUR NEIGHBOUR Microchiroptera Vespadelus vulturnus – the
Little Forest Bat.
The Little Forest Bat weighing only 3 to 4 grams (about as much
as a pencil) is 40 to 50mm long and uses its hands, with its
elongated bones covered by an almost transparent membrane, as
wings.
The Little Forest Bat eats half its weight in insects each night
and is a free, non-polluting, insect controller!
Only one young will be born in spring. The baby, a tiny 10% of
it’s mother’s weight will, with the help of it’s mother, attach to
a teat, under the mother’s wing, were it will stay until big enough
to be left in the crèche roost. The little bat will be flying,
using its sonar to navigate, in six tiny weeks.
These micro bats roost in tree hollows, under loose bark and
even in small holes in buildings.
Look for your neighbours flying silently like clouds of dust,
cleaning up the insects around your house!
Rosemary Birney
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