I'm in a bit of a quandary. There are some old cow byres next door to us
that have been out of use for some time and the bats have moved in. I have
today heard that the farmer is going to take the roof off the byres as it's
unsafe but what happens to the bats? Aren't they protected and therefore
you can't just go around unhousing them? I don't want to upset the
relationship we have with the farmer but I don't want the bats ousted/harmed
either.

What would you do in this situation?

--Alison

ubject: OT - Bats and Buildings
From: "Alison"
Date: 05/09/2003 20:03 GMT Standard Time
Message-id:

I'm in a bit of a quandary. There are some old cow byres next door to us
that have been out of use for some time and the bats have moved in. I have
today heard that the farmer is going to take the roof off the byres as it's
unsafe but what happens to the bats? Aren't they protected and therefore
you can't just go around unhousing them? I don't want to upset the
relationship we have with the farmer but I don't want the bats ousted/harmed
either.

What would you do in this situation?

--Alison



Does the farmer know they are there?

Alison P.

(AlisonAPg) wrote in message ...
ubject: OT - Bats and Buildings
From: "Alison"
Date: 05/09/2003 20:03 GMT Standard Time
Message-id:

I'm in a bit of a quandary. There are some old cow byres next door to us
that have been out of use for some time and the bats have moved in. I have
today heard that the farmer is going to take the roof off the byres as it's
unsafe but what happens to the bats? Aren't they protected and therefore
you can't just go around unhousing them? I don't want to upset the
relationship we have with the farmer but I don't want the bats ousted/harmed
either.

What would you do in this situation?

--Alison



Does the farmer know they are there?

Bats use different roosts at different times of the year, so with
temperatures falling they're now about to move on anyhow. If you have
space you could put up a few bat hibernation boxes to help out
(designs available from the Nature Conservancy Council etc, or your
County Naturalist Trust).

I imagine these bats will find somewhere else for next summer,
especially if there's woodland about; but I agree it's worrying. But,
again, we can't risk people or farm livestock with a dangerous roof:
dilemma.

I wouldn't damage a good relationship with the farmer over this: as I
say, I don't think the bats are in actual immediate danger, and he may
even be interested enough to provide a bit of simple shelter for next
year.

I don't know if you have any spare time, but for a few years I used to
go into the village school an afternoon a week to do nature-related
activities with the children: this discreetly trickled back up to the
parents, and I think did a bit of good. One of the things we did was
actually to make and set up bat boxes. Farmers aren't stupid: thick
farmers are an extinct species these days, though under pressure some
of them of course develop tunnel vision; and because they live here,
they *are* actually interested in the countryside.

Mike.

"Malcolm Ogilvie" wrote in message
...
Depending where you live, contact the relevant country conservation
agency.

England - English Nature
Scotland - Scottish Natural Heritage
Wales - Countryside Council for Wales

All will be in your local phone book.

Explain the situation to them and let them take care of it. And you can
ask them not to mention your name.

Yes I have the number for the Bat Protection folk cos we had to save some
baby bats a couple of years back. Trouble is, it was the farm foreman that
told me about it and I muted my concern (wish I'd kept quiet now) so they'll
know it was me if 'Batman' arrives on their doorstep :-(

"AlisonAPg" wrote in message
...

Does the farmer know they are there?

Alison P.

I don't know. Their house is quite a distance from the byres so they won't
see the bats going out on the town every evening.

In article , Alison alison.freeth@No
SpAm.wideopenwindows.fsbusiness.co.uk writes
I'm in a bit of a quandary. There are some old cow byres next door to us
that have been out of use for some time and the bats have moved in. I have
today heard that the farmer is going to take the roof off the byres as it's
unsafe but what happens to the bats?

If it's unsafe and the roof falls in they are out of a home anyway!!

And . . . if it falls in while a human is in it the farmer will be sued
for a vast amount of money. Put yourself in the farmer's place.

Why don't you take positive action. Make and position bat boxes all over
the place. You might even ask the farmer to assist you so that he can
delay the removal of his barn roof until all the bat boxes are in place.

*You* are concerned about the bats - *you* do something to help them!!!!

--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason,
put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com

Alison o.uk wrote:

"Malcolm Ogilvie" wrote in message
...
Depending where you live, contact the relevant country conservation
agency.

England - English Nature
Scotland - Scottish Natural Heritage
Wales - Countryside Council for Wales

All will be in your local phone book.

Explain the situation to them and let them take care of it. And you can
ask them not to mention your name.

Yes I have the number for the Bat Protection folk cos we had to save some
baby bats a couple of years back. Trouble is, it was the farm foreman that
told me about it and I muted my concern (wish I'd kept quiet now) so they'll
know it was me if 'Batman' arrives on their doorstep :-(

Explain the situation to the person you talk to at English Nature.
They're not stupid -- perhaps they could arrange an impromptu bat survey
that doesn't involve any need to say that someone told them. Perhaps
local bat detectorists (there are such things) have been wondering where
the bats that they've detected are living.

Suitable roosts for bats are hard to find; declining roost availability
is one of the reasons that some spp are in decline. They can't just
'find somewhere else' -- some spp have very specific requirements.

regards
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.

On Fri, 5 Sep 2003 20:03:06 +0100, "Alison"
o.uk wrote:

I'm in a bit of a quandary. There are some old cow byres next door to us
that have been out of use for some time and the bats have moved in. I have
today heard that the farmer is going to take the roof off the byres as it's
unsafe but what happens to the bats? Aren't they protected and therefore
you can't just go around unhousing them? I don't want to upset the
relationship we have with the farmer but I don't want the bats ousted/harmed
either.

What would you do in this situation?

There is some legal info on the Bat Conservation Trust website,
http://www.bats.org.uk/batlaw.htm, might be worth giving them a call?

Andrew

===================================
Address in news headers is not read
Reply to andrewATdatagramDOTcoDOTuk
===================================

In article , Andrew J
Instone-Cowie writes
On Fri, 5 Sep 2003 20:03:06 +0100, "Alison"
. co.uk wrote:


What would you do in this situation?

There is some legal info on the Bat Conservation Trust website,
http://www.bats.org.uk/batlaw.htm, might be worth giving them a call?

I am amazed at the responses to this thread.
Apart from Mike, no one who has responded has suggested talking to the
farmer. The advice has been to go, behind the poor sod's back, to some
organisation or other who will, in all likely hood, give him a hard
time. You are behaving as if the farmer is some sort of mean and nasty
ogre whereas he is just trying to make a living out of providing us
stuff to eat and is probably as interested in preserving the bats as
anyone else.
I just can't believe that a group of nice people could advise something
so utterly despicable.
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason,
put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com

On Sat, 6 Sep 2003 20:13:28 +0100, Jane Ransom
wrote:

In article , Andrew J
Instone-Cowie writes
On Fri, 5 Sep 2003 20:03:06 +0100, "Alison"
.co.uk wrote:


What would you do in this situation?

There is some legal info on the Bat Conservation Trust website,
http://www.bats.org.uk/batlaw.htm, might be worth giving them a call?

I am amazed at the responses to this thread.
Apart from Mike, no one who has responded has suggested talking to the
farmer. The advice has been to go, behind the poor sod's back, to some
organisation or other who will, in all likely hood, give him a hard
time. You are behaving as if the farmer is some sort of mean and nasty
ogre whereas he is just trying to make a living out of providing us
stuff to eat and is probably as interested in preserving the bats as
anyone else.
I just can't believe that a group of nice people could advise something
so utterly despicable.
Shame on you Jane.
In defending the farmer against a stereotypic view you purvey another
stereotypic view about an organisation.
As a volunteer bat warden I know I and my colleagues bend over
backwards to help people with bat roosts according to their different
needs. It is usually volunteers who will do a roost visit. I have also
found that English Nature give excellent and positive support and
backup.
Don't forget bats are protected by law because they are in serious
decline with some on the verge of extinction. The Nature Conservation
organisations have a necessary role in this protection. In my
experience they do everything they can to avoid being heavyhanded and
hardly ever resort to law preferring education, cooperation and
advice.
You may have seen recently in the national news that is just this type
of roost destruction, often by builders converting buildings, that has
exacerbated bats declining numbers.



Nick Harrison Lancaster UK

In article , Nick Harrison
writes
You may have seen recently in the national news that is just this type
of roost destruction, often by builders converting buildings, that has
exacerbated bats declining numbers.

Not just bats, but swallows as well
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason,
put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com

"Jane Ransom" wrote in message
...

Not just bats, but swallows as well
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.

Yes there's loads of swallows as well. The farmers have swallows/house
martins roosting in the eves of their house and they've often commented how
nice it is so I think he is waiting until the swallows migrate at least.
The sad thing is, when they come back next year where will they go? We have
left our stable open this year and a few have taken up residence there but
there are masses of nests in the cow byres ( v. large building) and our
stable can't compete with that. Development is all quite sad in terms of
loss of habitat for wildlife IMO.

--Alison

"Jane Ransom" wrote in message
...

Not just bats, but swallows as well
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.

Yes there's loads of swallows as well. The farmers have swallows/house
martins roosting in the eves of their house and they've often commented how
nice it is so I think he is waiting until the swallows migrate at least.
The sad thing is, when they come back next year where will they go? We have
left our stable open this year and a few have taken up residence there but
there are masses of nests in the cow byres ( v. large building) and our
stable can't compete with that. Development is all quite sad in terms of
loss of habitat for wildlife IMO.

--Alison