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Chris has been doing volunteer bat work with the Birmingham and Black Country Bat Group since 1989.听 鈥淏ut why bats?鈥� people ask 鈥� and Chris has a lot of answers.

"Bats live in our urban environment and it doesn鈥檛 take much to encounter them, yet they retain an element of mystery.

Chris with a bat

"As a bat worker, I can still make a valued contribution to gaining knowledge about bats; each year I take part in the Bat Conservation Trust鈥檚 National Bat Monitoring Programme which helps us to keep track of how bat populations are faring.

"This will be my 10th year checking the same roost of Pipistrelle bats in Halesowen.

"The roost is not big, but it鈥檚 just as important. It is the consistency and repeat surveying that makes the data robust and important and actually helps with the national picture of trends in bat populations.

"So I鈥檓 part of a real scientific study. Plus I get a cup of tea and biscuits from the lovely couple who live in the house where the survey is done twice a year!"

What if?

But what made Chris become a volunteer in the first place?

"I had one of those 鈥渟liding door鈥� choices to make as an 18-year-old 鈥� some years ago now. (Why does the educational UK system still seem to expect really young people to make such huge decisions that will affect the rest of their lives?).

Chris holding a bat

"I could go to Leeds Polytechnic and study for a degree to be a Speech and Language Therapist or take a place at London University to read Biology.

"I chose SLT and a life in the NHS 鈥� it鈥檚 still a really wonderful job, but occasionally I think what if? The bat work lets me live out the "what if".

"Bats are part of our language and folk lore through songs, poems, Shakespeare, art and so on. So it鈥檚 great to capture people鈥檚 imagination with 'real' information about something they may have seen in their garden."

Bats need protection just like tigers or whales

"I have met a lot of really nice people doing 'bat work' and have had some wacky adventures and misadventures.

"It is a great hobby and really does make a difference for the bats and the people I meet and talk to.

"When I was younger, I used to see bats flying around in the street light from my bedroom window. I still sleep in that room if I visit my parents and the bats don鈥檛 fly there now.

Chris manning a stand at the Botanical Gardens

"This is very sad, but at least by doing what I鈥檓 doing I feel as if I鈥檓 doing something about this.

"I have made some great and life-long friends, done real conservation work, shared my knowledge and really enjoyed it.

"And when I鈥檝e spent nights rehabilitating a bat and returning it to the wild in someone鈥檚 garden with them taking part, seeing it well and flying around, it鈥檚 a really good feeling."