Potential Bat Roost?

[drinksloe]

6 hours ago, Mark Bolam said:

Good link Ben, cheers.

 

Re your beech, could you just get a bat guy to climb and scope it and if no evidence is present then you’re good to go?

 

I'm not an expert but i would expect most bat inspectors would want to wait until May time ( atleast up here) till the bats are in there summer roosts and do a dawn and dusk survey.

I know with roofing surveys they insist on the dawn and dusk surveys even if no sign of bats anywhere in house/roof.

 

I know i done some work on a pipeline many years ago and i had to climb trees around feb time  with a bat guy watching and stuff any cracks and cavities with teram type stuff so bats couldn't access the cavities when they emereged from hibernation in spring.

It was for trees they weren't entirely sure would have to come down or not depending on the exact line the pipes took, but they didn't want to be hampered by having a 'live bat roost' incase they needed it down when they got round to laying the pipes.

Have to admit i have no idea wot paper work or licences they had to do it

[Mark Bolam]

If we waited for every tree that had ‘bat potential’ to be surveyed in the summer, though, we would have a pretty lean winter!

 

Most of the big trees we take down have issues.

If there are no bats, we take them down.

Before bird nesting!

 

Some of the trees have limitless ‘bat potential’, but you can’t wait forever for the little buggers to move in, can you?

 

Nothing would ever get done.

[doobin]

WIth all the things just posted, is it any wonder this industry is full of cowboys who just crack on (and clients who employ them)?

[drinksloe]

I totally realise that mark but i bet if u phoned a bat inspector thats wot they'd say or atleast many would say, they definately would with house building inspections, so really anything needing a building warrant.

But there just covering there own arse aswell as when u see the tiny spaces they can use would be very easy to miss 1, but if ur there at dawn or dusk u will se them emerging

I managed to get a sensible lad out to do my bat survey but the 2 'fancier' companies wanted £1200-1500 quid plus vat and that was 5 years ago for the basic survey, actually find a bat and need a licence/mitagation etc more money again, the roofer was going to reslate the whole roof for not much more.

 

Lets face it almost any tree that is dangerous as it has a defect will most likely have bat 'potential'

 

I mind 20 odd years ago done some volanteernig with local bat group, wot a bunch of nut jobs.

IN my opinion very little common sense or dealing with them,  just thought bats were more important than every other living thing and that was it.

I mind sone farmer phoned up as he felled a tree and found some bats when it was on the deck and wanted some advice, all they wanted to do was prosecute him.

 

I also mind on that pipeline job they wanted me to section and rigg down these 2 big rotten hard woods as they had potential bat roosts all throu them, so obviously rotten and full of defects.

I told them to f@@k right off, no chance i'm risking my life to save a bats life.

To be fair a better climber might of done them ok safely but way above my experience level back then, and a bit before mweps were really that common as they are now

Edited January 8, 2022 by drinksloe

[benedmonds]

30 minutes ago, Mark Bolam said:

Most of the big trees we take down have issues.

If there are no bats, we take them down.

Before bird nesting!

 

Some of the trees have limitless ‘bat potential’, but you can’t wait forever for the little buggers to move in, can you?

 

Nothing would ever get done.

This was the issue I had with the bat awareness course I did way back in 2006. So many trees have potential for roosts.   In the 20 years I have been in the tree game only come across bats twice and one of those was in a conifer hedge reduction..

[AHPP]

The important thing with bats, pigeons, nests etc is that everybody is briefed to not report any they find and to kick the twigs and chip the chicks without breaking step. A massive advantage of helmet comms is being able to discreetly direct a groundsman to a flung nest without having to literally shout it from the treetops.

[openspaceman]

You naughty boy, go and wash your keyboard out with soap and water

[daltontrees]

On 08/01/2022 at 17:29, Mark Bolam said:

If we waited for every tree that had ‘bat potential’ to be surveyed in the summer, though, we would have a pretty lean winter!

 

Most of the big trees we take down have issues.

If there are no bats, we take them down.

Before bird nesting!

 

Some of the trees have limitless ‘bat potential’, but you can’t wait forever for the little buggers to move in, can you?

 

Nothing would ever get done.

Exactly! Ask a bat person to get involved and expect indefinite delays and expense.

[daltontrees]

On 08/01/2022 at 16:56, drinksloe said:

 

I'm not an expert but i would expect most bat inspectors would want to wait until May time ( atleast up here) till the bats are in there summer roosts and do a dawn and dusk survey.

I know with roofing surveys they insist on the dawn and dusk surveys even if no sign of bats anywhere in house/roof.

 

I know i done some work on a pipeline many years ago and i had to climb trees around feb time  with a bat guy watching and stuff any cracks and cavities with teram type stuff so bats couldn't access the cavities when they emereged from hibernation in spring.

It was for trees they weren't entirely sure would have to come down or not depending on the exact line the pipes took, but they didn't want to be hampered by having a 'live bat roost' incase they needed it down when they got round to laying the pipes.

Have to admit i have no idea wot paper work or licences they had to do it

Holy shomoley! Blocking cracks and cavities to avoid occupation by bats is more or less admission that they are roost features. And blocking them is against the law. Dodgy practice!

[drinksloe]

3 hours ago, daltontrees said:

Holy shomoley! Blocking cracks and cavities to avoid occupation by bats is more or less admission that they are roost features. And blocking them is against the law. Dodgy practice!

 

It was Feb time and they summer roosts and under the supervision of a bat inspector, was for a big company on a major pipeline..

I'll be honest i have no idea the ins and outs of the law but assumed with the bat inspector there it must of been ok.

He never had a climbing ticket so i had to climb for him.

 

I thought the idea was exactly that to stop them gaining access, these trees were question marks wether they could stay or not depending exactly where they laid the pipe.

I guess it would be another few months before they knew exactly where the pipe would go and by then if they were occupied by bats and tree/limb needed to come off/down it would stop a multi million pound pipeline in the middle of the pipeline laying season.

 

It could of been almost 20 years ago too so no idea if best practice or rules have changed since then.

 

Really a bit like putting the netting over a hedge if u might need to rip it out later in the year and don't want birds to be nesting there.