DURRUS Green Group enjoyed a beautiful clear evening for their recent bat walk. 

After a welcome cuppa at Philips’ Green, Catherine Ketch of Bat Conservation Ireland engaged participants in an information-based quiz with regard to bats in general, and Irish bat species in particular. 

The group learned that the nocturnal mammals eat vast numbers of insects (moths, midges, mosquitoes, flies, beetles) and so help keep insect populations in check. 

The common pipistrelle and the soprano pipistrelle bat can eat 3,000 insects in one night. So it was heartening on the subsequent bat walk around the local laneways, that these two species in particular were picked up on the bat detectors. 

Participants all went home with a greater appreciation for the local bat populations and the significant role they play in helping to keep ecosystems in balance.