Hullo everyone,

I love bats. What incredible creatures, if one mammal species can fly there really is hope for us all. Enjoy this newsletter of bats.

Firstly, Emma Teeling is one, if not the, world's leading bat researcher. Here's a great interview with her where she tells you many many amazing things about these little guys and their surprisingly long lifespans:

And if you were ever in tropical rainforest at night out catching bats in the likes of Panama and what you'll see these great, big, huge spiderwebs and giant spiders in the middle of the web, and you see these small bats flying in total darkness, we can hear them with your bat detectors and they're able to use sound to pinpoint the spider and to avoid the web using sound alone in complete darkness.

https://geneticsunzipped.com/transcripts/2021/5/20/emma-teeling-bats-and-why-i-love-them

Dee Lawlor has built a bat bothy to rehabilitate ill bats. <3 It sounds like it's overall going very well, but that tiny bat Rowdy just wasn't that into the wild and is now her pet:

“All the other bats we released last summer were great at flying and hunting, but Rowdy was having none of it. He’s with me because he’s not suitable for release. At the moment I’m the only person in Aberdeenshire who does bat care training, so for example if you want to do bat rehab yourself, you come to me and myself and Rowdy will help you with that.”

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen-aberdeenshire/4476021/aberdeenshire-bat-bothy/

Love,

Alex.