Here we are at the second post in Second Island! This next animal is one that you will probably only see at night as it flitters from tree to tree at dusk. It is not to be confused with the Batman, though some think of it as a superhero for helping to control the number of insects that fly around our homes.
The pipistrelle is one of our very smallest mammals: their body length is around 4 cm and their wing span is around 20 cm. They have dark, golden-brown fur and black wings, but as they are nocturnal they are usually only seen as dark shadows in the night sky. They make their roosts in trees or sometimes in the roofs of houses. They leave their roosts at sunset to search for insects, that they catch and eat in flight. Their favourites are mayflies, midges, and mosquitoes and a single bat can eat several thousand insects each night.
They fly and glide at very high speed and are quite difficult to see, and almost impossible to photograph. They can best be seen from a balcony or upstairs window as they swoop around in large circles from one tree to another. They navigate by echo location, emitting a sound that their sensitive ears pick up as an echo from objects in their flight path.
They are most likely to be seen in spring and summer, as they hibernate from November to April. They mate during the autumn and the female's egg cells develop during the spring. They give birth to their pups in late spring or early summer. There are some bat boxes on trees in Second Island, which will encourage bats to roost here.
I'm very interested to read all that about the pipistrelle, as I don't see many of them. I am usually quite active at night myself, but - like all otters - my eyesight is not very good. If you have made your rubbing, it is time to move on to the final post in Second Island, which is down by the side of the river, near the bridge.
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