Gone batty

Wes · Posted: Fri May 30, 2014 8:05 pm Post subject:

Licence? Expecting to pay a fee?

tagwex · Posted: Fri May 30, 2014 10:01 pm Post subject:

No. It's a freebie.

Wes · Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 12:52 am Post subject:

Dept of agriculture? Similar to keeping chickens I guess. Record of the flock numbers etc. H5N1 surfaces and they pay a visit, checking on sanitation procedures and human contact levels. I live in Dub city!
Bats though, rabies and histoplasmosis, I wonder if anyone will formally advise you of the potential dangers, once youre listed as having a colony.

Im all for species protection and conservation, but I like the governing bodies to have a reciprocal attitude.

tagwex · Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 9:53 am Post subject:

Well his title is a wildlife ranger, there are a few that cover the county. I presume they are civil servants as the phone number begins with 076. The only advice I got over the phone apart from the obligatory warnings about disturbing the colony, was that it is an old wives that they would fly into my hair!

tagwex · Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:47 pm Post subject:

Update on the wildlife rangers visit.

He recommends this website as excellent for general information http://www.batconservationireland.org/
He also has some info on Bat Boxes which I asked for as I intend to make one.
http://www.batconservationireland.org/pubs/reports/Leaflet_3_batboxes.pdf

Could not determine whether it is a male or female colony, apparently if I find a dead one one I have to let him know. Also they defecate as soon as they leave the nest at dusk, lots of tiny evidence on the ground. Sometimes they come back to the same nest each May.