Bats in Churches
August 20, 2024 11:57 PM   Subscribe

The Bats in Churches project in the UK has a YouTube channel. This video (57.16, subtitles, transcript) is a good introduction to the project, talking about ecology and heritage, and with a case study of a church in Cambridgeshire. Other videos include a short case study of a church in Bedfordshire (3.53, subtitles, transcript); Understanding Bats through their DNA (48.28, transcript); Church Wall Paintings (58.02, subtitles, transcript); Bats in Sacred Spaces internationally (1:12:19, transcript); and an interview with Peter Ross, who wrote Steeple Chasing: Around Britain By Church (58.19, transcript). The Guardian wrote about Bats in Churches in 2023.

A related link: Nils Bouillard, one of the speakers in the Bats in Sacred Spaces video, is interviewed about his Big Bat Year and bat tourism here.
posted by paduasoy (3 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
I can recommend the "Steeple Chasing" book, a whimsical wander around some lovely old churches. His piece on St Martin in the Fields (our home church) captures the spirit of the place very well; sadly, though, I've never seen a bat there. I guess Trafalgar Square may be a bit too hectic and noisy for them.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 1:51 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]


This was such a neat post! Makes me want to live near a church just so I can see lil' pipistrelles. I'm an atheist, but I'd go to church just to meet the vicar and the congregation. Most vicars I've heard speaking seem like nice folks*. Surely, they must be if they like bats!

The Western Smallfoot commonly roosts in lava tubes and caves. There are quite a few in places where I ride, and I used to see them out in the desert coming home at dusk. We also used to see bats over the house, but no more. Another loss.

*Please let me keep my fairytale if not. In my reading, Brit Anglicans seem to be such nice people. (Apart from the occasional murder-y ones)
posted by BlueHorse at 6:56 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]


Mod note: Don't mind us, we're just hanging out with this post in the sidebar and Best Of blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:21 AM on August 22 [2 favorites]


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