大象传媒

This 14th century monastery may strike you as the ideal home for bats. But in fact, the well insulated attic of this desirable 1960鈥檚 detached residence is the perfect place to rest weary wings during the chilly winter months. Bill Oddie met up with bat expert, George Bemmant, and she took him to meet the current residents, a colony of lesser horseshoe bats. The 'horseshoe' name comes from a horseshoe flap of skin that sort of encircles the nostrils. If you see a bat dangling or hanging like this, it鈥檚 most likely to be a horseshoe. The easiest way to tell lesser horseshoes and greater horseshoes apart, is think pears and plums. Imagine that this lesser horseshoe bat here is about plum size and the greater horseshoe bat is pear sized. They live much longer than you would expect for an animal of their body size - into their late teens. If you do have bats in your house first of all it鈥檚 illegal to try and get rid of them. You would need to seek advice formally before doing anything that would affect either the bats or the sites that they use for roosting. Different species use a very, very wide variety of buildings, including really relatively modern buildings like this bungalow.