Bat conservation and management questionnaire

[Conor]

The University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute is looking for individuals with experience in bat conservation and/or management work on their land to take part in a survey consultation. We want to hear your views on the challenges facing bats in the UK, the tools you use to address them and the research we need to improve conservation and management of bats in the future. With the management of the countryside being a key component of bat conservation, we are keen to hear from farmers and land managers about their experiences of implementing management approaches. The results of this survey will be used to inform future research into bat conservation and management tools to ensure they meet the needs of stakeholders.

For more information, see the attached Participant Information Sheet:

To sign up and take part, follow the link below:

https://cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8GLXYgV8jVC0kv3

This survey will close on 20/12/2019

Any questions should be directed to Conor Cooper ([email protected])

 

[delilah]

The University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute

Would that be the same University of Cambridge that has banned beef and lamb from the menu ?
Not sure you will get many respondents to your survey on here.
Could you answer me a question: Where do you find more bats, on pasture or on cropped land ?
Look forward to your response (and apologies for shooting the messenger )

 

[Conor]

The very same I'm afraid! Not the best institution to belong to right now if you want to survey farmers! ? Still, I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I didn't at least ask for your views for a survey like this, given how importance a stakeholder group farmers are in UK wildlife conservation - even if I'm understandably not especially welcome!

Always happy to discuss bat-related questions! So I wasn't entirely sure about your question, but I've asked around the office and done some digging, and in the UK it seems you'll find more bats over pasture, where there are more insects to feed on, rather than cropland. They also prefer land with more linear habitat features like hedgerows and tree lines so they can use them to travel between feeding sites, and in-field trees to roost in, which I would guess are more common on pasture? Hope that answers your question!

 

[neilo]

Would that be the same University of Cambridge that has banned beef and lamb from the menu ?
Not sure you will get many respondents to your survey on here.
Could you answer me a question: Where do you find more bats, on pasture or on cropped land ?
Look forward to your response (and apologies for shooting the messenger )

We have a bat roost here, run by the Vincent Wildlife Trust, which is apparently one of only two roosts for this species in Wales. They did a survey a few years ago, to see where the most popular feeding grounds were and what corridors were being used.
Apparently these bats forage mostly in the woods round here, and travel along hedgerows to get there, but they won’t cross a gap of greater than 5m. I would suggest hedges like that are more common round grass fields, and more so around smaller fields, rather than the large ‘efficient’ prairies favoured by the arable boy’s, with their big toys.

I tried to create a new corridor for them to get to another couple of woods easily, by planting a considerably length of hedge. VWT were on board, Glastir were on board, but Natural England blocked it as it was all open parkland in the 16th Century ffs (although fenced for at least the last century).? I did gap up some other long patches specifically to create a corridor elsewhere, but there was no joined up thinking between the various agencies.

But sorry @Conor , I’ll help you when you help me, as a red meat producer.....

 

[Doing it for the kids]

The very same I'm afraid! Not the best institution to belong to right now if you want to survey farmers! ? Still, I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I didn't at least ask for your views for a survey like this, given how importance a stakeholder group farmers are in UK wildlife conservation - even if I'm understandably not especially welcome!

Always happy to discuss bat-related questions! So I wasn't entirely sure about your question, but I've asked around the office and done some digging, and in the UK it seems you'll find more bats over pasture, where there are more insects to feed on, rather than cropland. They also prefer land with more linear habitat features like hedgerows and tree lines so they can use them to travel between feeding sites, and in-field trees to roost in, which I would guess are more common on pasture? Hope that answers your question!

Bats are a pain. I have nothing much against them but the protection they are given is way OTT, bet I have spent o er £25k on them.

If you want folk to do a survey on here set one up that’s quick to do, filling in forms with lots of details is never going to get you many.

Survey monkey style is slick

 

[steveR]

First page and I stopped. Just wanting a wee bit more infor about ME than I am willing to give Conor. Fair enough if I express willingness to assist with a follow up, but not right now...

On Bats themselves, we seem to have a lot of the little blighters about here, a few years ago, I assisted with some research work and as I recall, 3 different species/types of bats were identified at the time... They loved the flowering CSS margins, loads of insects and moths for the taking.

I am sad that my hearing has now aged to the extent I cannot hear them!

 

[Princess Pooper]

The University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute is looking for individuals with experience in bat conservation and/or management work on their land to take part in a survey consultation. We want to hear your views on the challenges facing bats in the UK, the tools you use to address them and the research we need to improve conservation and management of bats in the future. With the management of the countryside being a key component of bat conservation, we are keen to hear from farmers and land managers about their experiences of implementing management approaches. The results of this survey will be used to inform future research into bat conservation and management tools to ensure they meet the needs of stakeholders.

For more information, see the attached Participant Information Sheet:

To sign up and take part, follow the link below:

https://cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8GLXYgV8jVC0kv3

This survey will close on 20/12/2019

Any questions should be directed to Conor Cooper ([email protected])

fewer grazing livestock = fewer insects = fewer bats. We have loads of bats of several species on our pastoral farm because the trees, hedges and old buildings are all used for livestock production.

 

[steveR]

fewer grazing livestock = fewer insects = fewer bats. We have loads of bats of several species on our pastoral farm because the trees, hedges and old buildings are all used for livestock production.

Bit like swallows and swifts then... I reduced our cattle numbers to Zero for 2 1/2 years a while back and the areas you expect to see the birds was empty of them and reduced nests in the sheds. Sheep just didn't make up for the big cattle pats!

 

[Conor]

We have a bat roost here, run by the Vincent Wildlife Trust, which is apparently one of only two roosts for this species in Wales. They did a survey a few years ago, to see where the most popular feeding grounds were and what corridors were being used.
Apparently these bats forage mostly in the woods round here, and travel along hedgerows to get there, but they won’t cross a gap of greater than 5m. I would suggest hedges like that are more common round grass fields, and more so around smaller fields, rather than the large ‘efficient’ prairies favoured by the arable boy’s, with their big toys.

I tried to create a new corridor for them to get to another couple of woods easily, by planting a considerably length of hedge. VWT were on board, Glastir were on board, but Natural England blocked it as it was all open parkland in the 16th Century ffs (although fenced for at least the last century).? I did gap up some other long patches specifically to create a corridor elsewhere, but there was no joined up thinking between the various agencies.

But sorry @Conor , I’ll help you when you help me, as a red meat producer.....

Fair enough - I fear my research would be more suited to improving the corridor planning regulations mess than the university's catering policy in any case!

Bats are a pain. I have nothing much against them but the protection they are given is way OTT, bet I have spent o er £25k on them.

If you want folk to do a survey on here set one up that’s quick to do, filling in forms with lots of details is never going to get you many.

Survey monkey style is slick

We're hoping that our research will help bring down costs, or at the very least get you more bang for your buck!

Unfortunately with surveys like this we need to collect a lot of information from each person, even though it leads to tedious forms and low response rates, despite our best efforts to par it down. The compromise is very frustrating. You should have seen the first draft!

First page and I stopped. Just wanting a wee bit more infor about ME than I am willing to give Conor. Fair enough if I express willingness to assist with a follow up, but not right now...

On Bats themselves, we seem to have a lot of the little blighters about here, a few years ago, I assisted with some research work and as I recall, 3 different species/types of bats were identified at the time... They loved the flowering CSS margins, loads of insects and moths for the taking.

I am sad that my hearing has now aged to the extent I cannot hear them!

Hi @steveR, sorry to hear we're asking for too much (and that you can't hear the bats anymore...)! To improve our future surveys, what information was it you objected to supplying?

 

[steveR]

Hi @steveR, sorry to hear we're asking for too much (and that you can't hear the bats anymore...)! To improve our future surveys, what information was it you objected to supplying?

It'll happen to you around 35 too Conor!!

Personal details... I am reluctant to provide such info. As will be the case with others here I suspect.

 

[AGN76]

So farmers are Important in UK wildlife conservation, but we don't want your beef.
Again, not shooting the messenger, but there's a balance in nature and when the land is rid of livestock, good luck finding the wildlife.

 

[Conor]

It'll happen to you around 35 too Conor!!

Personal details... I am reluctant to provide such info. As will be the case with others here I suspect.

Hmm, fair enough. Unfortunately we are required to take names and emails as this is a formal research project and we are obliged to obtain formal consent to participation and to be able to contact participants if needs be, so we need to know who's taking the survey and how to contact them. Having said that unless you specifically opt in to having your details retained, we destroy all the personal details data after six months, and it's securely stored and only available to me and my supervisor in the meantime, and we don't actually use it for anything beyond confirmation of consent in any case (unless you opt in to having it retained, in which case we'll use it to contact you for future research and/or to let you know when we publish the results).

 

[Spencer]

Parasites......




Not bats.., they’re ok and give me very little bother. But institutions trying to glean information and details from our industry to further themselves and impose more rules/regulations onto us whilst charging us for the privilege! Jog on pal..., and enjoy the Tofu...

Bad day

 

[Princess Pooper]

I did look at it but don't know enough about bat ecology to fill in section 1 on an informed basis. We have bats in traditional outbuildings, our house, trees, and probably in the railway bridge that is on our land. We have large hedges with some mature trees and small spinneys, many field ponds, a small river, 2 streams, cows and sheep. We have lots of weedy corners and loads of insects. We therefore offer fantastic bat habitat. We like to see them around and have no desire to harm them, but resent having to pay professional fees for bat surveys etc whenever we want to do building work when there is SO much habitat for them. Similarly I am involved in our local village church and fed up with having to leave sheets and old shower curtains over the pews and carpets to try and reduce the mess we have to hoover up every time the church is used. Again as a tiny church struggling to make ends meet, the potential cost of ecological surveys and statutory works if we have building/roofing work to do is daunting on top of all our other costs. Necessary surveys for protected species should be covered by a government grant. We have great crested newts as well as bats all over the place, barn owls, kingfishers and other protected species and what reward to we get? Additional costs and in some cases ridiculous management suggestions.

 

[Danllan]

...Apparently these bats forage mostly in the woods round here, and travel along hedgerows to get there, but they won’t cross a gap of greater than 5m. I would suggest hedges like that are more common round grass fields, and more so around smaller fields, rather than the large ‘efficient’ prairies favoured by the arable boy’s, with their big toys....

I would suggest that the double-gateways needed will be more than 5m wide, so that's the bats f*cked.

 

[Cranman]

I did look at it but don't know enough about bat ecology to fill in section 1 on an informed basis. We have bats in traditional outbuildings, our house, trees, and probably in the railway bridge that is on our land. We have large hedges with some mature trees and small spinneys, many field ponds, a small river, 2 streams, cows and sheep. We have lots of weedy corners and loads of insects. We therefore offer fantastic bat habitat. We like to see them around and have no desire to harm them, but resent having to pay professional fees for bat surveys etc whenever we want to do building work when there is SO much habitat for them. Similarly I am involved in our local village church and fed up with having to leave sheets and old shower curtains over the pews and carpets to try and reduce the mess we have to hoover up every time the church is used. Again as a tiny church struggling to make ends meet, the potential cost of ecological surveys and statutory works if we have building/roofing work to do is daunting on top of all our other costs. Necessary surveys for protected species should be covered by a government grant. We have great crested newts as well as bats all over the place, barn owls, kingfishers and other protected species and what reward to we get? Additional costs and in some cases ridiculous management suggestions.

Regarding bats in the church, you might try ringing Dogersea batshome to see if they can relocate them.

 

[AGN76]

Regarding bats in the church, you might try ringing Dogersea batshome to see if they can relocate them.

Rick!, we heard what you said!