Can fireworks disturb bats?

[ajb]

Happy New Year!
I was walking back to my house around 12:15am this morning after taking my daughter to top of our hill to view the firework displays all around us. As we did a bat flew straight down the street, below lamp post, level right over our heads. I'm 99% certain it was a bat rather than a bird.
Would it have been the fireworks that disturbed it, or something else? It was a couple of degrees above freezing.

[Dogghound]

Hard to say if this is what caused it, to become active. Its not unusual for them to change roosts or show limited winter activity. High noise levels will cause disturbance if there are lots of fireworks near a roost site. They are more of an issue in summer as the can put bats off foraging.

[ajb]

Many thanks for the reply Dogghound. I always thought bats hibernated throughout the winter. I never knew they moved around - this must use up lots of winter body reserves and be somewhat of a tricky strategy. I could understand it in an emergency where they were physically threatened but I would have thought it better to sit out the noise to see if it stops or moves off, rather than taking flight.
Thanks again.

[Dogghound]

Its a very complex subject and varies per species. However some species such as brown long eared will change site possibly due to changes in temperature through the winter within the roost site. It is also common for species to repetatively wake up through hibernation and fly around the roost cavity. Some species such as common pipistrelle will become active and actually hunt on warm winter days/nights, especially towards spring. Its an important survival stratergy being able to wake during hibernation otherwise many would die as conditions change. Loud bangs to a bat are a physical threat as far as they know, it could be the roost collapsing, predators etc.

[nightshade]

I have seen birds driven from the eaves of houses by noise and more especially the Acrid Smoke from fireworks. Perhaps it was the smoke?