Property near Wolsingham, Co. Durham
A cottage required complete re-roofing, but supported a known long-eared bat roost in the roof void. Argus Ecology worked closely with Durham Bat Group and Natural England to achieve a workable solution to preserve what turned out to be a very large and important breeding roost, while allowing the necessary property improvements to be undertaken. Surveys established the size of the population, and a solution was worked out with the builder which payed careful attention to the timing and methodology of demolition and construction works. Despite these precautions, while working within the terms of the Natural England licence a significant number of bats were found to have stayed late in the roost in the exceptionally poor autumn weather of 2008. Argus bat workers effected a temporary rescue, looking after the bats for a number of days while works to the new loft could be completed.
