Join us on the Day at Dartmouth Orchard. We will be there with some family activities and you can find out more about why orchards are so important (not just for bats!), bring a picnic.
Traditional orchards provide good foraging opportunities for greater horseshoe bats. These areas are sheltered, and the concentration of small trees enables the bats to move through the area more easily, and take advantage of the insect prey from the canopy and underlying grassland.
Greater horseshoe bats have a very high frequency call, which is both quiet and directional. This means that it disappears rapidly if it has nothing to bounce back from. Because of this they need navigational features, such as hedges or trees within a few metres of their feeding grounds. This makes orchards perfect for them as they open up larger areas of grassland for them to forage in.
Download our ‘Orchards for Greater Horseshoe Bats‘ information leaflet.