Its day 22 of lockdown as the country and the world fight to control a novel coronavirus (COVID-19). A virus which is rumoured to have originated from bats and jumped the species barrier via humans eating bats.

All I’m going to say to anyone who believes that bats are the bad guys – this is a fallacy! Bats are critical to all life on earth – they act as pest control agents and they provide valuable pollination and seed-dispersal services. Plus they are super cool. These animals are the only family of mammals on earth which can fly. We need bats on this planet.

Before I get wrapped up talking about all the fascinating things about bats (of which there are many, many things to talk about). I wanted to explain my motivation for this blog.

In January, I started a part time MSc by research at Manchester Metropolitan University. I had begun the year with the proposal that I would study interspecific interactions and the flight trajectory of neotropical bats whilst foraging. I was hoping to do my field work at the Timburi Cocha Research Station in Ecuador later in the year but as I type this today we are still in lockdown and so all plans are on hold.

So on a Zoom call with my supervisor two weeks ago, he suggested I might like to start a Blog. Never one to shirk a challenge, here I find myself.

Why a blog?

• Its a great way to share information, video and pictures. I hope that people might enjoy reading about bats and begin to understand and love them as I do.
• As a postgraduate research student, I can use this blog as a way to communicate my scientific ideas, knowledge and future research.

So here it is. This is my blog. I hope it entertains, challenges and allows you to see what amazing mammals bats are.