Bats

Listing the fauna of the ‘Slunjčica Significant Landscape’ area confirms the permanent or temporary presence of a series of endangered and protected species such as bats. There are many myths about these bashful creatures. You have most certainly heard or you yourself believe that they are bloodsuckers, that they are blind and that they will get entangled into your hair. Please let us dissuade you. Bats are harmless animals serving as indicators of the quality and conservation of the environment. They are the only mammals that can fly. They are not blind but, in a dark cave, vision has no use so that they have developed their orientation based on sound.

Apart from man, they almost have no natural enemies and it is precisely due to the human action that this species has become endangered and is protected. The main reasons for that are the loss of habitat, use of pesticides and stuffing caves with waste.

Did you know that one bat eats in one night eats the amount of prey of up to a third of its mass (500 to 1 000 bugs per hour of hunting)? Therefore, their role in preventing uncontrolled growth in the insect population has a significant ecological and agricultural value.

GREATER MOUSE-EARED BAT (MYOTIS MYOTIS) – This type of bats can be found only in Europe. It belongs to the Vespertilionidae family or mouse-like bats, and is the most spread group of bats. With its 45 grams and the size somewhat bigger than a house mouse, this flying mammal belongs among the largest specimens of its species. Just like other members of the Myotis family, the greater mouse-eared bat feeds on arthropods but in an entirely different way. It patiently collects its prey from the floor, carefully listening to the sounds created by centipedes, small spiders and similar food that it likes. In flying and orientation in space, it uses echolocation.