Bat Rehabilitation in Hampshire
If you find an injured or orphaned bat in Hampshire, please contact Hampshire Bat Group carers on 07760 504257. If there is no answer, please leave a voicemail or a text message, giving us your name, area and phone number. For less urgent situations, please contact our bat carers by email at batcarehantsbats(at)gmail.com.
The Bat Conservation Trust Helpline on 0345 1300 228 is also available. BCT will put you in touch with your nearest bat rehabilitator. From October-April (non-peak season): Monday-Friday, 9am-5.30pm. From May-September the Out of Hours Helpline is also available in the evenings and weekends. Please note that the out of hours helpline is run by volunteers and is for emergency calls only.
Hampshire Bat Group trustees and members include a number of BCT registered bat ambulance drivers, carers and rehabilitators, who undertake a huge amount of work every year. In an average year we estimate 150 bats are picked up and cared for. These have included common, soprano and Nathusius' pipistrelles, brown long-eared bats, Daubenton's, Whiskered, Brandt's, serotine and noctule bats. We have even cared for very rare species including grey long-eared and alcathoe bats.
Spreading the word
One of the very important things we do is to raise awareness of bats throughout the county, by getting ‘out and about’ - i.e. taking information about bats and their conservation to the general public and helping to dispel any myths that might still remain! We do this in a variety of ways.
Firstly, we attend shows and festivals in the spring and summer months, with our Bat Stand. In a typical year these number twenty or so, including the three day New Forest Show, the Romsey Show and the Gilbert White Museum's Nature Day. These events are staffed by a dedicated core of volunteers, with other members helping on rotation and everyone finds it to be a rewarding experience. Help is always needed so please contact our committee if you would like to assist with shows – you don’t need to be an expert!
Secondly, some members give talks, including to other wildlife groups, to community organisations and to schoolchildren. It’s not untypical for groups totalling 150-300 to be educated in one day! Some members also give talks at more specialised conferences such as the South East Bat Conference and the HBIC Forum.
Thirdly, we lead bat walks, sometimes preceded by a talk. We either organise these ourselves or are invited to lead them by other organisations such as the Forestry Commission, in which case they will be open to the general public. In a typical year there might be two or three a month during the spring and summer, with the majority open to both members and non members. This is a good way to get an introduction to ‘batting’ if you are new to the Group.
All our activities are generally listed on the website and in our newsletter, 'Bat Droppings'.
Presentations that we have given during 2022 and 2023 include:
'Bats, Superheroes of the Night' for the South Downs and the Romsey groups of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, for the Watercress and Winterbournes project volunteers, for the Design Chapel at Southampton, for the Cumberland House Museum at Southsea, for the Chawton Women's Institute and for the University of Southampton Wildlife Society.
Bat presentations to various schools (including Bedales and Kingscourt Schools) and youth groups (including Cowplain and Swanmore Beavers, 28th Itchen Cubs)
Bat presentation to the Denmead Village Association
'The Science of Bats' presentation for the Southampton Natural History Society.
'Bats and the National Trust' for the Portsmouth National Trust supporters group.
'Bats and Farms' for the Selborne Landscape Partnership
'The Hampshire Bat Group over the past 20 years' for the annual Recorders Forum of the Hampshire Biodiversity Information Centre.
"Bats in the Historic Environment" for the Managing Wildlife in the Historic Environment course at West Dean College.
Bat echolocation spectrogram analysis workshops for the Chichester Wildlife Corridors volunteers.
Public events to which we have taken our display during 2023 include:
4th March - Greener Brockenhurst Eco Gardening event
18th March - University of Southampton Science and Engineering Day
1st April - Hampshire Ornithological Society Open Day, Winchester
7th May - South Downs Green Fair near East Meon
13th May - Sholing Valleys Spring Fair, Southampton
14th May - Nature Festival at the Gilbert White Museum at Selborne
20th May - Eco Fair at the Wicor Primary School at Portchester
17th June - Summer Fayre at Park Gate Primary School
1st July - Bucklers Hard Conservation Awareness Day, New Forest
17th July - Alton Eco Fair
25th, 26th and 27th July - New Forest Show
8th August - Lepe Wildlife Wonders event
19th August - Edenbrook Country Park Bioblitz
2nd September - Hordle Summer Fayre
9th September - Romsey Show
8th October - Blackmoor Apple Tasting Day
22nd October - Bursledon Brickworks Halloween Steam Up
Bat walks which we have led during 2023 include:
29th April - Lakeside at Eastleigh
10th May - for the Winchester Ladies Circle
12th May - Wildgrounds at Gosport
17th May - for the RSPB at Siddlesham
18th May - for the Alton Walking Festival
30th June - for the Stockbridge Cubs camp
12th July - for the Friends of the Hermitage Stream at Havant
9th August - North Stoneham community
10th August - Wilder Bramley
19th August - Edenbrook Country Park Bioblitz
21st August - Havant's Natural Heritage walks
25th August - Greatham parish
28th August - Gilbert White Museum, Selborne
29th August - Wilder Bishops Waltham
31st August - Wilder Bramley
4th September - Watercress Way at Alresford
9th September - Portsmouth and Southsea Watch Group
21st September - Zebon Copse Residents' Association
Hampshire Bat Group, Registered Charity 1095874