Species
| Watching bats | Bat conservation | Publications | Links | Further advice |
Bats are highly specialised and remarkable animals with some amazing features. They are the only true flying mammals. Like us, they are warm-blooded, give birth and suckle their young. They are also long-lived, intelligent and have complex social lives. In Scotland we have nine, or maybe ten, of the 17 species of bat in Britain.
You can read more about Scottish bats in Bats and People. Get a copy of this free booklet by writing to Scottish Natural Heritage, Design & Publications, Battleby, Redgorton, Perth PH1 3EW or emailing pubs@snh.gov.uk .
Bats and rabies - Rabies is a very rare disease in bats and to catch it you must have contact with a diseased bat, or its saliva. Only four bats out of more than 4,000 tested in Britain over the last 16 years have been found with the disease.
If you have been bitten or scratched by a bat you should wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water straight away and contact your Doctor for further advice. Effective post-exposure vaccination is available. If possible, and taking care to avoid being bitten or scratched again, try to catch and keep the bat in a box or other container. The bat can then checked and, if necessary, tested for the disease.
You can find answers to many of the more frequently asked questions about bats, rabies and vaccinations on the Department of Health or Bat Conservation Trust website.
If you find a live bat in your home, or somewhere else where it is causing
a difficulty, please read the Bats and
Human Health leaflet 
(50kb) for advice on how to move it safely. Although bats are protected
species, the Law allows you to remove a bat from the living space of a dwelling
house or to care for a sick or injured bat.
Some tips on what to do if you find a bat
You can see bats in most parts of Scotland where there are broadleaved trees. To improve your chances, find a safe place close to a loch or river with trees on one or both banks. Start watching from about 15 minutes after sunset (see local papers or try the Royal Observatory Edinburgh website for times).
If you see small bats with a flittering, swooping and diving flight, around trees and high over water, these are most likely one of the two very similar pipistrelles. A slightly larger bat flying in longer lines low across and even touching the water will be the Daubenton’s bat. If you catch this bat in torchlight you may spot its very white underside.
You may be lucky and spot a bat darting round the leaves of larger-leaved trees such as ash or oak, appearing occasionally to crash onto leaves. This will be the brown long-eared bat. As its name suggests, it has very long ears which it uses to listen for and pinpoint insects running across leaves or moths vibrating their wings before pouncing on them. In silhouette against a pale night sky you may even spot its ears.
Many Countryside Ranger Services and Bat Groups organise bat walks which offer the chance to see and learn about these fascinating and easily overlooked animals.
Bat roosts in housesMost of the bat roosts we know about are in peoples houses and other occupied buildings. Bats use them mostly during the summer months but may be found in buildings at any time of the year. If you have a bat roost in your house and wish advice or information please contact your nearest SNH Area office.
In many parts of the world, including Britain, the number of bats has declined significantly in recent years – some to the point of extinction. Although we don’t have much historical information, it’s clear that many of our bats and their roosts are under threat and some species are much less common than in the past.
To find out more about how you can help bats, try the Bat Conservation Trust website
- Guidance note 35: forest operations and bats in Scotland
- Bats and Human Health
(SNH/ SCIEH 2003)
(50kb)
- Bats and People
(SNH 2003)
(524kb) (pdf version) (on-line version)
- All about bats
(SNH)(180kb)
- Scottish Bats 5 (2000)
- Habitat
management for bats (JNCC 2001)
- Bats
mitigation guidelines (EN 2004)
- Bats
in buildings - a guide for building professionals (SNH 2004)
If you need further advice on handling a bat or wish advice about a bat roost, please phone the nearest SNH office. Outside office hours phone our Bat Helpline on 01738 458663.