Neighbours With Nature: We’re Batty for Our New Residents!

A recent ecological audit at One Horton Heath has discovered at least 17 bats and 5 pups (baby bats). This finding coincides with International Bat Night (30-31 August 2025), an ongoing ecological survey of bat populations established by the Bat Conservation Trust in 1997.

This new discovery showcases the positive outcomes from all the hard work the One Horton Heath team has put into improving the ecology of the site.

Did you know that bats aren’t our only new residents? We also have barn owls!

Aside from several bat boxes, there are two special bat houses located across One Horton Heath:

1. Fir Tree Bat House

This bat house was specifically designed and built to support the bat population. It resembles a wooden shed and provides plenty of space for the bats to roost during the day.

2. Pond Cottage

Pond Cottage has an interesting history; it was originally an abandoned residence on the site that bats had already occupied before the One Horton Heath project began. After an inspection by expert ecologists, the structure was preserved. They stripped it of unsafe materials and boarded up the entrances to make it a safer and more suitable home for the bat residents. This former cottage continues to provide a residence for current and future bat inhabitants.

Why Are Bats Important?

Bats consume at least one-third of their body weight each night, which means they eat over 3,000 insects per night. By keeping insect populations in check, bats serve as natural pest controllers, enabling local crop growers to reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides.

Additionally, bats play a crucial role in seed dispersal and pollination, contributing to the abundance and diversity of plants that are essential for a healthy ecosystem.

Interesting Facts About Bats

– Bats are the only true flying mammals, capable of controlled, self-propelled flight.

– They use echolocation to navigate and ‘see’ in the dark.

– Bats are more closely related to humans than to mice.

– In the wild, bats can live up to 30 years.

– There are over 1,400 species of bats worldwide, with 18 species in the UK, including two known species in Horton Heath: the Brown Long-Eared Bat and the Soprano Pipistrelle.