Five common myths about bats
It was once said that the problem about bats is that most of the time you can't see them and you can't hear them. Maybe that's why there are so many popular myths about bats. Here's the truth about some of them.
1. As blind as a bat. Actually
bats have excellent eyesight. The find their way about in the dark using sonar,
but in daylight they can see as clearly as we can.
2. Bats are vampires. All our UK bats are insectivorous.
There are over 1,400 species of bat world-wide and just three of them (found in
central America) are vampire bats, taking tiny amounts of blood, usually from
sleeping cattle and deer.
3. Bats get caught in your hair. They’re actually very agile fliers
and have no interest in human hair. Pipistrelle bats often fly very close,
hunting the midges which are hunting us, which is probably where this idea
comes from.
4. Bats are pests. Quite the opposite. Insectivorous
bats hoover up enormous numbers of pests. A single Pipistrelle can eat
2,000-3,000 midges in a single night.
5. Bats stop developments. Where bat roosts and proposed
development come into conflict there is a well-established licensing process to
allow development to proceed in a way which protects biodiversity