Arbtalk.co.uk | Discussion Forum for Arborists

Went on a bat course yesterday. It was a very interesting and informative day especially as its focus was geared towards bats and trees/arboriculture. Got me thinking about the extent of the problem with regards bats and Arb work. Have may of you come across roosts in trees you are about to work in? If so what kind of tree/location etc? Have you known what to do upon finding a bat etc?

I cut a roost out a few weeks ago. It was in a big old Sycamore. No signs of bat use....scratchin marks, droppings etc. The limb the roost was in didnt even have any evidence of cavities until cut. Strapped it back in the tree so hopefully alls well. Dont worry its all above board and reported etc.
In the park I work in there are a great number of bats of all species and this is only the 3rd time in 4 years that we have come across them and considering we can be working on 3 - 4 Veteran Oaks a day through the winter thats quite low I think.

Will be pushing to get an endoscope for future works as I think it could prove invaluable considering the cost.

So what about everybody else?

dont forget that putting an endoscope into a roost would require that you hold a bat license from natural england first!

Surely sticking an endoscope in is better than cutting them out? Its impossible to to get a licensed bat handler in to inspect every tree we work in. Its also a miniscule chance of sticking into the middle of a roost. But it may help to detect signs of bat use etc?

bats, you need lofty on the case

Dont wanna send the thread into marginal territory...bats and trees. Courses are well worth the investment. The number of jobs for bat ecologists however seems to belie something of an obsession with them imo. Again , please dont get me wrong.......
Legislation is clear about habitat etc....I just wish there was as much money invested in trees as there appears to be in bats....In fact, bats will not really pick a tree for roost as a matter of course....Probably havent expressed that particularly well but...I concur that they are very difficult to spot and not really that common in trees ....a course tho is well worth the insight and will no doubt displace many a misconception.....!

In fact, bats will not really pick a tree for roost as a matter of course....


As a matter of interest what is a more favoured habitat? A house very close to me has a colony of 40+ pipistrelles behind the weatherboards. Is that an expected place to find them?

I could not agree more!!!

Yes!!!

Bats LOVE houses!!

I have worked a fair bit with licensed bat handlers, checking "potential roosts" never found any bats.

Couldn't agree more... I think the legislation is a bit tight. I tried contacting my local bat group to express an interest in joining and learning... I wasn't even grace with a reply. IMO they act like a closed rank secretive society and this kind of behavoiur does nothing to help bats, quite the opposite.


I have an endoscope and I check hollows and cavities for nesting birds. I haven't come across a bat roost in a tree in the last 6 years

Thanks. Begs the question then 'how high is awareness in the building trade?'