Some spooky goings on in the wildlife enquiries team today with a series of calls about bats. Some turning up in peoples houses and others wanting to know more about them and how to encourage them. Most bats are going to be looking for safe places to hibernate over the cold winter months over the next few weeks, mild autumn weather enables them to stay active through October and into November. I was watching two bats hunting over coastal scrub in north Devon just a few days ago! Everyone can help bats by putting nesting boxes up, two or three are better than one and try to position them facing different aspects to give the bats a choice of home throughout the year. It also helps to manage your your garden for insects, lots of nectar rich flowers plus foodplants for moths will enable local bats to find food at night. Check out our Homes for Wildlife project for more details on how you can help.
To find out more about bats please have a look at the Bat Conservation Trust's website here.
It's not just bats that might send a tingle down your spine this halloween, lots of our other wildlife can add to the spooky atmosphere. Listen out for the eerie howls and whines of foxes, the autumn is dispersal time and many young foxes end up in fights as they seek new territories. The adults will be mating over winter so defending a territory is all important, definitely something to shout about. Other wildlife making plenty of noise at this time of year are deer, the barks of muntjacs especially, and tawny owls. The tawny owl has also been making a different kind of impression, have a look at the article here. Hopefully the owl was able to make a recovery after it's close encounter with the glass, window transfers on the outside of the glass can minimise the risks of these collisions. If you are stuck for a kids activity this halloween, get some sticky backed plastic and get them to create some spooky shapes to go on the windows!
Warden Intern at Otmoor.