We were very fortunate to have an expert from the Heritage Council
visit us this month. Ger Stanton is an expert on bats. He was very
knowledgeable and passionate about this much maligned creature.
These are some of the interesting facts we learned:
– the smallest mammal in the world is the Bumblebee bat.
– the largest bat in the world is the Golden Crown bat
– there are 9 species of bat in Ireland.
– worldwide there are 1,300 species of bat.
– bats pollinate plants so, without bats we would not be able to
enjoy such exotic fruits as mangoes, avocados, bananas and figs.
– bats are also excellent at controlling the fly population. Each
little Pippistrelle bat consumes as many as 3,000 midges a night!
– bats can see with their eyes and also ultrasonically.