'Bat detectives' sought for annual survey

The Devon Bat Survey, which begins on Tuesday, helps conservationists protect feeding grounds across the county

A conservation charity is looking for "bat detectives" to collect data to help protect the mammals.

Devon Wildlife Trust said it wanted volunteers to host a small electronic bat detector in their gardens for three consecutive nights so ultrasonic signals could be collected.

The charity said more than 350,000 bat flights were recorded last year, giving conservationists insight into the habits of the creatures.

It said data collected from the Devon Bat Survey, which is now in its ninth year, aided its work protecting bat homes and feeding grounds across the county.

Volunteers are asked to host the bat detectors for three consecutive nights

The survey starts on Tuesday and runs until October, the trust said.

It asked volunteers to visit its website to book a date to collect a bat detector from one of the charity's 12 host centres.

After three nights of recording, the volunteers return their detector, with the sounds then analysed to identify the types of bats recorded.

Lindsay Mahon, who coordinates the bat survey for the trust, said: "Last year our wonderful volunteer bat detectives recorded more than 350,000 bat passes – that is, records of bats flying by.

"Many of these were common kinds of bat such as pipistrelles, but the surveys also turned up several rarities including threatened greater horseshoe bats."