Bats in Easegill

D

Deek

New member
Sawa bat at the top of the 88 foot pitch on the way to Cape kennedy series. This seemed a long way in to me. Was he lost? Does anyone know whether he could find his way out from this far in? Thanks. 
 
Big Jim

Big Jim

Member
Deek, what seems a long way in to you may only be a few minutes flight to a bat. Theyve got pretty good naviagtional skills - some bats migrate hundreds/thousands of miles at times to roosting sites so a few hundred meters is nowt.  Send your record to John Altringham or Anita Glover at Leeds Uni - you should be able to find there email addresses via google quite easily.

Jim
 
Les W

Les W

Active member
Perhaps they just want a quiet kip without being bothered. Every time somebody finds one they probably think "Oh no, not again, now I will have to find somewhere even further from the entrance".  ;)
 
P

Peter Burgess

New member
Bats in apparently remote places are sometimes an indication that other ways in exist that haven't yet been identified by us mere humans.
 
D

Deek

New member
Well I can't imagine there is any food down there for them. I guess they also wonder what we're doing down there as well. I was just thinking that a rogue one may have got lost.
 
M

Mr Fell

New member
Les W said:
Perhaps they just want a quiet kip without being bothered. Every time somebody finds one they probably think "Oh no, not again, now I will have to find somewhere even further from the entrance".  ;)
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There might be a smaller bat size entrance somewhere in the avens above where the bat was spotted.
 
N

NigR

New member
Peter Burgess said:
Bats in apparently remote places are sometimes an indication that other ways in exist that haven't yet been identified by us mere humans.
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Deek,

Was there much bat shit (little black droppings) on the floor around there? Can be a useful trail to follow at times. Also, keep an eye out for dead flies (small dark splodges) on the walls. Add a decent draught and you might be back up on the surface sooner than you expected.
 
langcliffe

langcliffe

Well-known member
NigR said:
Was there much bat shit (little black droppings) on the floor around there? Can be a useful trail to follow at times. Also, keep an eye out for dead flies (small dark splodges) on the walls. Add a decent draught and you might be back up on the surface sooner than you expected.
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Good tip if you're in the far corners of Ogof Draenen.
 
N

NigR

New member
Deek said:
I don't think there is any way out to the surface around there.
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As other people have mentioned, bats can get an awfully long way underground. So, as Big Jim has already said, I really wouldn't worry about him being able to find his own way out.

langcliffe said:
Good tip if you're in the far corners of Ogof Draenen.
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Yes, dead flies are our friends.
 
F

fleur

Guest
Bats tend to move further into cave systems to hibernate as the weather gets colder. Its been cold down here so I am sure its been colder up north. Fleur.
 
Big Jim

Big Jim

Member
Well I can't imagine there is any food down there for them
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There doesnt need to be food for them. They are there to roost usually, be that short term or more usually long term for hibernation.

Some bats, particularly Brown Long-eareds, will use Caves/Mines as a feeding roost whereby they catch a large prey item above ground (eg large moth) and fly to a perch usually quite close to the cave entrance to eat there catch before flying off out to forage again.  These feeding roosts are quite easy to find - just look for an accumulation (sometimes hundreds) of moth wings in a small area.  Most of the wings will be yellow/orange with a black band from one of the Yellow Underwing moth species and not from Tissue or Herald moths that are commonly seen within the light zone of a cave.

Big Jim
 
imogen

imogen

New member
Big Jim said:
Well I can't imagine there is any food down there for them
Click to expand...

There doesnt need to be food for them. They are there to roost usually, be that short term or more usually long term for hibernation.

Some bats, particularly Brown Long-eareds, will use Caves/Mines as a feeding roost whereby they catch a large prey item above ground (eg large moth) and fly to a perch usually quite close to the cave entrance to eat there catch before flying off out to forage again.  These feeding roosts are quite easy to find - just look for an accumulation (sometimes hundreds) of moth wings in a small area.  Most of the wings will be yellow/orange with a black band from one of the Yellow Underwing moth species and not from Tissue or Herald moths that are commonly seen within the light zone of a cave.

Big Jim
Click to expand...

Geek alert! ;)
 
Big Jim

Big Jim

Member
imogen said:
Big Jim said:
Well I can't imagine there is any food down there for them
Click to expand...

There doesnt need to be food for them. They are there to roost usually, be that short term or more usually long term for hibernation.

Some bats, particularly Brown Long-eareds, will use Caves/Mines as a feeding roost whereby they catch a large prey item above ground (eg large moth) and fly to a perch usually quite close to the cave entrance to eat there catch before flying off out to forage again.  These feeding roosts are quite easy to find - just look for an accumulation (sometimes hundreds) of moth wings in a small area.  Most of the wings will be yellow/orange with a black band from one of the Yellow Underwing moth species and not from Tissue or Herald moths that are commonly seen within the light zone of a cave.

Big Jim
Click to expand...

Geek alert! ;)
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So you wont be coming down Eldon on Sat then to help us get the data from our Bat detector then Nemo?

We'll see about geek on Sat, be-atch! :icon_321:
 
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