Bats in the Belfry

The fourth hub was placed in St Marks Church. Try and glimpse the bats as they zoom past the cameras. Click on the images or videos below to read more.

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Bats in the Belfry

The fourth hub was placed in St Marks Church. Try and glimpse the bats as they zoom past the cameras. Click on the images or videos below to read more.

Dorset hosts all 17 breeding species of bat in the UK (almost a quarter of our mammal species), due to its diverse habitat and warmer climate. Bats are nocturnal and have a diet of insects, so they rely on echolocation to hunt down their prey, such as moths or midges at night. They tend to live in tree holes and old buildings, which is why they were found in the church.

Bats flying over alter

Bats choose to live in old buildings primarily because these structures provide a safe, stable, and warm environment that closely mimics their natural, but increasingly scarce, habitats like caves, hollow trees, and rock crevices.