Whiskered Bat (Myotis mystacinus)

Whiskered bats have shaggy dark grey/brown fur and dark face and ears. They are similar to Brandt’s bats and they often roost together, but in separate colonies. They roost in all types of houses but particularly in older buildings with stone walls. In winter, Whiskered Bats regularly hibernate in caves and tunnels. Males may stay at the hibernation sites until well into May. These bats eat moths, other small insects and spiders. Whiskered Bats mate in autumn, but this has been observed in all winter months. Adult females form colonies in the summer and give birth to their young in June or July. Their call is usually mistaken for pipistrelles’, but Whiskered bat frequency range is much higher.

• A dropping sample with sufficient biological material to be used as a reserve is required in case the extraction is unsuccessful the first time.
• The fresher a sample is, the more likely the test will be able to extract viable DNA.