hibernation? (1 Viewer)

[jimbob]

I have heard a few bats, most likely pips, flying around the last few nights. should they have gone into hibernation yet? or is this warm weather prolonging their summer?

 

[Gus Horsley]

Because the weather's been so mild I don't expect them to hibernate just yet. The temperature needs to drop to about 6 degrees over the course of several days. There are probably a few myotis bats which have already hibernated underground, however.

Gus

 

[Ranger James]

Bats don't strictly speaking hibernate. But rather go into a deep torpor from which they can awaken at will. You will often see bats flying on sunny days in the middle of winter, and they will often get up and have a widdle even on cold days in winter. With the mild nights we are haing at the mo, and plenty of insects still on the wing most species will be making the most of this late extra.
I wonder if I'll break my record this year of December the 3rd for a Common Darter dragonfly?
Jim

 

[Stiffy]

Bat Hibernation -a plea

Please be careful if you come accross a hibernating bat, they are very vunerable at this time of year

Bats do enter hibernation but it is very dependant on the surrounding temperatureand may be a light torpour. The energy (fat source) expended by a bat waking on a regular basis has to be replaced by an equivalent food source i.e. insects. If the insects are not available (too cold etc.) to provide the fat reserves then a prolonged cold snap will spell disaster for the bat.

I am currently remotely monitoring with mine shafts in the depths of Cornwall as part of an EIA. Over the past two months (and it has been cold!) the detectors have recorded greater and lesser horseshoe bats within the mines 80% of the days. Indeed as it went cold towards the end Nov-early December greater horseshoes were recorded moving into one of the deeper shafts. They were probably searching for different ambient temperature.

The results also recorded brown long-eared bat/s within one shaft which I am pleased with as they are notoriously difficult to record!

Stiffy

 

[KarltheBatman]

Remote monitoring

I mirror Stiffy's comments - please please avoid any hibernating bats. A small amount of disturbance will probably do them no harm but if they suffer too much repeated disturbance then their rousings will burn off too much stored energy and they may not survive. Bats are having enough problems already without inconsiderate behaviour adding to their problems.
And it does happen. I am a member of my local bat group and during our last hibernacula monitoring weekend some of our members encountered a member of the local caving club (sadly its the one I also belong too!) who was out going round the sites looking for hibernating bats! Fortunately it was a mild weekend so the bats were probably only torpid and not in deep hibernation, but if they had have been then they would have been unnecessarily roused from hibernation at least on two occassions on the same day - and thats a lot of wasted energy.
That leads me onto my title - Stiffy - what set-up do you use for your remote monitoring and how successful is it?
We have a few sites that are a pain to monitor and if remote monitoring could be set up it would be a great help.
So what equipment do you use, where is it from and does it provide accurate hibernation figures?
Cheers
Karlthebatman!

 

[Stiffy]

I mirror Stiffy's comments - please please avoid any hibernating bats. A small amount of disturbance will probably do them no harm but if they suffer too much repeated disturbance then their rousings will burn off too much stored energy and they may not survive. Bats are having enough problems already without inconsiderate behaviour adding to their problems.
And it does happen. I am a member of my local bat group and during our last hibernacula monitoring weekend some of our members encountered a member of the local caving club (sadly its the one I also belong too!) who was out going round the sites looking for hibernating bats! Fortunately it was a mild weekend so the bats were probably only torpid and not in deep hibernation, but if they had have been then they would have been unnecessarily roused from hibernation at least on two occassions on the same day - and thats a lot of wasted energy.
That leads me onto my title - Stiffy - what set-up do you use for your remote monitoring and how successful is it?
We have a few sites that are a pain to monitor and if remote monitoring could be set up it would be a great help.
So what equipment do you use, where is it from and does it provide accurate hibernation figures?
Cheers
Karlthebatman!

Hi Karl
For remote monitoring I use the Anabat system. This is a frequency devision bat detector coupled to a recording unit (Zcaim). The set-up can be bought from Alana Ecology for about £800. I have three units in ammo boxes bolted to a length of steel, the units are then secured to a Clwyd cone by chains and padlocks. Also the units each have a seperate 12v battery to power them up each evening. I usually leave them in place for a month, I then remove the card and change the battery. The units are then moved to another shaft or site to continue the process. The cards from all three are then analised using a PC and the results saved. During the spring/summer I place the units in barns or buildings to record bat activity. They have also been used to provide information as part of an EIA for road schemes, proposed wind turbine site etc etc. I am a big fan of the Anabat system, although there are some faults, one being, its a big handfull and not really suitable for single handed use. For general bat detecting I will, depending on what I am surveying use a:

Petterson 240x
Tranquillity Transect
Batbox Duet and Batbox III

Or a combination of all detectorss

Hope this helps?
Best wishes
Stiffy

 

[KarltheBatman]

remote monitoring

Hi Stiffy

Thanks for that, I guess we will have to start collecting a lot more donations to fund any Anabat purchases, but I will certainly keep it in mind and research it all properly.
Who lnows, we may be able to get a grant of CCW! (Ha! Ha!)
Karl
:bounce:

 

[Gill Osborne]

Was going to start a new thread about last night but found this one already going so thought I'd add my little bit of excitement from last night......


Last night at about 4.00pm when it was just getting dark I was outside getting the washing in off the line with my hubby Neil. It had been fairly mild all day with clear skies, lots of sun and a moderate wind ( perfect drying weather LOL ). Anyway, we were just chatting away about our day as you do when a bat flew past me about three feet above my head and up over the shed roofs!!! I was absolutely gobsmacked as I have NEVER seen any bats this late in the year! It was definitely a bat - possibly a Pipistrelle - as Neil saw it too and we've spent many summer evenings at dusk watching 'our' bats and listening in to them on our home-made bat detector so know the 'jizz' of a bat as opposed to a small bird.

Temperature is a LOT colder today and it's been raining since 5am so I imagine my bat will have gone back to sleep if it has any sense LOL But i WILL be sending this little sighting off to my local recorder with the Natural History Society :t: Will be interesting to see at the January meeting wether anybody else has seen any around.
I have noticed though, even at this time of year, just how many moths are still on the wing! I leave for work at 5am every morning and can't get over just how many moths I'm still seeing in the headlights - quite big ones too! Amazing how, after twenty-odd years of being addicted to natural history, there is still so many wonderful things to discover.....though I feel that 20+ years isn't even scratching the surface of all the things there are to be seen! :'D

Gill