Bat droppings

[chrysalis_stage]

hello
I was wondering if there is anybody here that is knowledgable on bat droppings (in the uk of course) and if this time of the year is still suitable (especially this year with all the rain) for collection.
I am in cambridge and coventry (warwickshire) and if anyone could advise me on where or who i could contact or visit about acquiring bat droppings from any specie for my studies at university,
i would greatly appreciate any advise,
thank you
sarah

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by chrysalis_stage

hello
I was wondering if there is anybody here that is knowledgable on bat droppings (in the uk of course) and if this time of the year is still suitable (especially this year with all the rain) for collection.
I am in cambridge and coventry (warwickshire) and if anyone could advise me on where or who i could contact or visit about acquiring bat droppings from any specie for my studies at university,
i would greatly appreciate any advise,
thank you
sarah

Somebody with a bat roost licence. Best bet to contact is county wildlife trust or county bat group. The Bat Conservation Trust could also put you in touch with right person.
Do not attempt to collect them yourself as you could well be in breach of the law - unless you have a bat roost licence.

Cheers,

Adam

[Tracey.A]

Hi Sarah,

I stayed at a place called Portnellan last weekend, which is near Crianlarich (Scotland) and at the back of the lodge that we stayed in there were piles of bat droppings. Another good place to look out for them are nest boxes as males will sometimes roost in them temporally. I found some in boxes that I look after on my local RSPB reserve, when I was cleaning them out last October and in April found droppings when I was checking the boxes for signs of nesting birds. My advice would be to get in contact with your local reserves and ask them if they have bats present, most will and you can ask them to contact you if any droppings are found. Another really good source is the website the Bats Conservation Trust. I wish I'd got this post before I went away last weekend as I would have collected some for you. I'll be cleaning the nest boxes out in October, so if I find any I can collect some and send them to you if you like?

Hope this helps

Tracey

[thunder]

How many droppings do you need and of which species?

henrya

[chrysalis_stage]

Thanks for the advice Adam i will contact my local bat group for help
Tracey, i wish i had posted this topic earlier also, its a shame, but if you do come across some bat droppings in october i would be extremely grateful if you could send them to me, thank you, i shall also ask my local reserves like you said.
Henrya, from what you posted im assuming (which i hate doing) you can get your hands on some droppings? of which species would you be able to get? i would need a fair few to attempt to analyse and would need to know where they were collected from, wild bats only, thank you.
thank you all for your fast replies