Getting Along With Bats

As a buyers agent, there is always something new and different to learn. Especially with rural land and properties. I have learnt to ask my clients to use a local conveyancer as city solicitors are often flummoxed with local flora and fauna issues. One that was interesting that came up recently was how to handle bat colonies nesting on your properties.

Fortunately, we don’t eat bats, in fact, they are strictly protected. This is not always ideal when bats and humans have to co-habit in close proximity. I recently did a purchase for a client where there was a nesting bat colony for part of the year. It took on an extra level of complexity to ensure that the construction or humans are not going to interfere too much with bats. Summer sunsets can be lovely to watch the swarms of bats flying out of their colonies looking for food.

I was interested to see the same is true in the UK as well. This week, it was Australian actress Cate Blanchett’s turn, with news sources reporting that she’s been told that she can have her new meditation space, so long as she first rehouses a colony of endangered bats. Surveyors recently discovered the bats making their home in a dilapidated building on her East Sussex estate. Now she not only must rehouse them, but she will have to incorporate a ‘bat loft’ into the design for her new garden office, studio, and a meditation room in case they return.

It is good to see that humans, and regulations, are shifting to accommodate other species on the planet. The days of just bulldozing through and doing what you want with nature is now in the past.