Pipistrelle

I got a phone call last night from a friend who'd been asked to help a neighbour as she'd found a dead bat in her loft. It dropped out and freaked her out when she opened the hatch. I went round to inspect the loft with a big torch to check if there were any others. There weren't and it looks as if this juvenile simply starved to death after coming in to shelter from the awful weather. Bats are probably suffering as much as our insectivorous birds in these wet conditions. Their prey of night flying insects and moths simply won't be available if it rains.

A real shame but a good oppurtunity to have a close view of this special little mammal.

Edit: Many thanks to Andy Cook who has hand reared orphan Pipistrelles and points out this is an adult. Babies are born June - August and would be furless until September. Adults have a body around the size of a 50 p piece and babiesa 5 p piece. It looks as if this bad weatehr is really taking a toll on some of our wildlife.