Said Batty Bat, ‘I’ve got a wheeze!’

‘ ... I’ll fly and hide up in the trees’


We thought that our local bats had moved out a couple of years ago. Even our neighbours, with their snazzy ultrasonic bat detector, couldn’t find them. Bats, like any other species, sometimes just move on. We didn’t take it personally.

And then last night, at dusk, we noticed the familiar tiny bodies flitting past the windows - unmistakable because of their erratic, zig-zag flying which is so different from even the most agile birds.

We gazed out of the window for quite a while, watching them flying straight towards walls and windows, only to do a u-turn at the last second to avoid contact. Their built-in radar and super-fast reactions must be the envy of the animal kingdom.

Welcome back, Batty Bat.