BATS are peculiar animals that do not appeal to everyone, particularly those who are afraid of them. Despite rumours of bats being blood-suckers or getting tangled in women’s hair, they are quite harmless to humans. They feed on insects and so they can appear to be scarce during the winter when they are hibernating. Some will migrate to warmer countries and they have been known to turn up on ships and oil-rigs as they make their tough journeys overseas.

It is around this time of year, therefore, that you might notice bats flittering around the evening sky, sometimes among swifts and swallows, and thus giving rise to their alternative name of flittermice.

Certainly they are mouselike creatures with wings, mainly active during the hours of darkness, but the indications this year are that we have fewer bats in Britain. Observers suggest this may be due to the recent long winter when there would be shortages of the insects they need for food. But the severe weather may have also disrupted their breeding season.

All species of bat produce only one baby each year; consequently an increase in numbers is not very common, although most bats can live a long time – up to 20 years in some cases. That is a great age for such a small creature.

In this country we have around 14 different species, ranging from the Great Horseshoe Bat to the tiny Pipistrelle which is our smallest bat and probably the most plentiful.

Old weather lore suggests that if bats fly after sunset, fair weather can be expected and it can also be expected if they fly early in the evening. If you can hear their cries, however, they suggest rain; it is also claimed that rain will also follow if a bat flies into your house.

It is Pipistrelles that we are most likely to notice around our homes during the summer months and when we do see them in action, it is difficult to believe they navigate and catch flies not by using their eyes but through a complex echo-location system of sound waves.

Darkness holds no fears for them. Truly they are amazing creatures.