25/01/12 Canterbury Oast Trust - Bat discovery creates a flap

The surprise discovery of bats living in a roof space at the Rare Breeds Centre, near Ashford, Kent, has caused something of a flap.

The six brown, long-eared bats were discovered during work on a house at the Woodchurch visitor attraction, owned and run by Canterbury Oast Trust, where a roof was being converted into living space. The trust provides care and opportunities for adults with learning disabilities, encouraging them to work at the Rare Breeds Centre and to live independent lives.

The bats had proved to be equally independent having found themselves a cosy retreat in Jasmine House, part of the trust’s community support services building comprising four self-contained flats.

Fortunately, the trust knows all about caring for rare breeds and quickly got to work making sure the bats – which soon expanded to a family of 10 – were protected by contacting Natural England for a licence.

Gill Gibb, chief executive of Canterbury Oast Trust, said: “Protection and conservation is part of our DNA, so we happily put measures in place to make sure they were looked after.

“We had to produce a method of working to keep the bats secure. We brought in an ecologist to survey the building during the night. By this time, we faced a freezing winter on the farm and everything had to be put on hold while the bats flew off to hibernate somewhere warm. The upshot is that we had to wait 14 months before we were able to move ahead with our plans.”

Now the work is completed with trust residents and the bats equally comfortable and secure.

Gill said: “The procedures could have driven us ‘batty’ but when you see the high standard of accommodation at Jasmine House and how it will make a home for a prospective tenant who has never experienced independent living, you realise it was all worth it. Especially as the bats, who are able to come and go, have their own separate section of loft space.”

The Rare Breeds Centre is one of the South East’s leading visitor attractions. It is home to many farm animals, and has children’s play areas, woodland trails, a discovery garden, Rainbow Gallery, an aviary and Granary Restaurant.

Brown long-eared bats:

• Can live up to 30 years
• Only have one baby at a time
• Fold their ears back when resting
• Often fly close to the ground
• Eat months, beetles, flies, earwigs and spiders

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