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WHERE CAN
I GET HELP?
Natural England runs a series of bat help lines for
each county.
In Cornwall,
If you have a "problem" with bats in your home then
please phone the helpline and a warden will contact you
as soon a possible.
Please call
the bat advice line for Cornwall:
Please call
Helen on
0800 3284186
For
grounded or injured bats please call, Chris & Sue
Harlow
Truro 278695
Cornwall
Bat Group also runs a helpline.
The helpline
is manned by volunteers who are available to help or
give advice over the phone.
Bat Group
Helpline for general bat advice:
In West Cornwall your
contact will be: Ginni Little
Ginni will gladly give advice and help you contact
a volunteer.
Please contact Ginni on:
Penzance: 01736 365 687
In
East Cornwall your contact will be: Tony Atkinson
Please contact Tony by
looking for "Bat Helpline" in your telephone directory
Please click a link below to download
Cornwall Bat Group Leaflet page 1
Cornwall Bat Group Leaflet page 2
For grounded or injured bats
Please contact Chris or Sue: Telephone
Truro 278 695
Email:
batcare@cornwall-batgroup.co.uk
Please leave a message if there is
no answer and they will contact you ASAP
Cornwall Wildlife Trust: 01872 240777
Natural England
01872 245045
How do you know if you have bats?
If you are up in your loft and see droppings,
don’t automatically assume you have mice. You may well be
playing host to a colony of bats (it is rarely that you will see
them, as some species of bats do not hang, as is popularly
believed, but creep into tiny crevices in the stonework or
between the roofing felt and the tiles). If you see these
droppings when you are thinking of timber treatment or other
work in the loft, please let us know. We don’t mind how many
calls we receive — we’d
rather make ten abortive visits than risk the destruction of a
single colony.
If droppings on items stored in the roof space are
giving you problems, simply cover these items with newspaper or
polythene sheeting. Collect the droppings if you have house
plants, as they make one of the finest fertilisers of all!
If you are really keen on bats, we can
advise on how to protect and keep them, and we can advise you on
bat boxes. After all, if you put up bird boxes, why not bat
boxes? These can be home-made or purchased. We can supply
details.
If you
find a bat in your house.
Normally
opening a window
and
curtains
at dusk will allow the trapped bat to fly out and back to its
roost.
If you
are not keen to handle the bat and it wont go on its own
account the following method can be used
Found a bat in you house?  Carefully
place a box over the bat and gently slide some card
under the bat
 Being
carefully not to trap the bats feet, move the bat to
safety and call the Cornwall Bat Group Helpline above
If the
bat is injured, please put the bat in a box and call
your nearest
number above.
Remember to be safe and wear strong
(leather are good) gloves if you have to handle
bats!
Rabies
Some bats in Europe have been
known to carry a rabies viruses.
There is more than one strain
of rabies. The rabies virus carried by certain
European bats is called "European Bat Lyssavirus"
(EBL).
There are two strains: EBL1
and EBL2. In Continental Europe, the recorded
incidence of EBL is low.
In Europe, EBL2 has been
found in Pond bats (which are not normally found
in the UK) and Daubenton's bats.
To get information on rabies
and bats,
Cornwall Bat Group recommends
that you visit
The Bat Conservation
Trust
website who have up to
date information on rabies and further advice
regarding handling bats.
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