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Forrabury Minster History Friends
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Forrabury & Minster The Seaside Parish Boscastle, Cornwall
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History
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· One of Britain’s Largest bats, with a wingspan of about 36cm (14”) and weigh up to 30g (1¼oz) · The distinctive horseshoe nose-leaf helps to focus the beam of ultrasound that the bat uses to ‘see’ in the dark · Bats are very long-lived compared to other small mammals and greater horseshoes can live for up to 30 years · All breeding females from a population gather together in early summer to form a maternity colony, where they give birth and raise their single young · The babies are born in June or July and are generally weaned and independent by the end of August · The maternity roosts are usually found in old buildings, occasionally caves or abandoned mines · During the winter the bats hibernate in caves, abandoned mines or other underground places · They are faithful to their traditional summer and winter roosts, returning to the same sites year after year · Greater horseshoe bats feed on a variety of insects but cockchafers, dung beetles and moths are the most important components of their diet · The most important prey items change throughout the summer with breeding females depending on beetles from April to June and then moths from June to August · Beetles, particularly one species dung beetle, Aphodius rufipes, are an especially important food source for young bats. Cow pats are necessary in the life cycle of these beetle, acting as a food source and habitat for the larvae. Up to 100 larvae can be found in a single cow pat and this beetle is at its most abundant in early August when the young bats begin their first feeding flights · Late August and through September, craneflies are eaten by all bats as they fatten up for hibernation For more information contact the Bat Conservation Trust - 020 7627 2629 or visit their web site at www.bats.org.uk
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Home Services What's on Prayer Request Forrabury Minster History Friends
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