Fatally snared bat

[ellen h]

Found this unfortunate bat snagged on a thistle this morning.How unusual is it for bats to be caught this way? What species is it?
ellen

[LoveT]

Awww, what a shame - poor thing !

Could be a pipistrelle? Don't know much about bats, except I think they're delightful little critters!

I'd be very interested to know if this is unusual as well, as I assumed they were supreme flyers .

Thanks for sharing - that's an interesting set of photos.

Thea

[demicav]

That's really sad, never seen anything like it before. Poor thing must have been frantic. I would say Pipistrelle too going off the size but could be wrong. A real shame.

[nightshade]

Yes pipistrelle caught on a Burrdock I think, I have never seen this before
but I have seen them stuck on pherenome moth traps and once in a cobweb
really good images

Please may I use these images

[ron1863]

Did you free it

Ron

[ellen h]

Originally Posted by ron1863

Did you free it

Ron

Unfortunately it was already dead,left it where it was.But if its still there this afternoon will remove it and put it in the undergrowth.Even if it was alive dont think its chances would have been good as the wings were badly damaged
ellen

[tigger]

Well worth freeing it asap, just in case it's still alive.

[Tracey.A]

Hi Ellen,

I'm just wondering if perhaps it had been attacked by something as it seems to have marks on its back? Could it perhaps have escaped from its attacker only to succumb to its injuries? I know that Barn owls will sometimes catch and eat bats, don't know if any of the other owls do or not. Poor little thing!

Tracey

[Wild-Woman]

Hi Ellen. I think Essex Bat Group would be interested in seeing this. If you google this it'll give you the site. Bats are always worth recording, alive or dead. This is an unusual set of shots that they may be able to tell you more about.

[nightshade]

I am afraid the Bat is dead ,if you look closely you can see the dried wing bones,the eyes are gone and it looks very dehydrated, it plainly went after a prey item and its under-fur got hooked. The first Pip I ever saw close-up had landed and taken prey from a Honeysuckle this one obviously did not realise is danger with this particular plant