You’d bat-ter believe it!

Colleagues couldn’t believe their eyes when Alan was spotted hanging out on the second-floor corridor of Basingstoke Delivery Office.

After postman Harry Grainger saw Alan perfectly at peace, albeit upside down in the top corner of the corridor just outside the line manager’s office, he rushed to get planning manager Lisa Rolefson, as he knew she was, in his words, ‘a tree hugger’.

‘When I went along to look, there was this tiny little creature huddled between two pipes, with beautiful big ears,’ said Lisa. ‘I couldn’t believe it. My colleague Mark Stokes got onto Google and discovered that our new friend was a “long-eared brown” bat. Delivery office manager Dan Knutton and I decided to call him Alan.’

Lisa immediately did a search for local bat rescuers and found the ‘Hampshire Bat Group,’ a registered charity made up of volunteer members, which as a partner group to the Bat Conservation Trust, aims to promote and support bat conservation in Hampshire and raise public awareness of the animals.

‘When we called them, they advised us to get a cardboard box,’ said Lisa. ‘They said to put something like a tea towel inside to give Alan something to hide under as well as a bottle top of water. They also recommended we wear gloves because in very rare cases, bats can carry rabies. 

‘Mark found a box and some gloves and after placing the box directly beneath Alan (with very little coaxing) he tumbled happily inside. I found a bottle top in the bin and put some cold water in it for him to drink.’

With Alan safely boxed, Lisa called the Hampshire Bat Group back and was given three numbers for local volunteer bat rescuers to try. 

‘There was no answer from the first number,’ said Lisa. ‘But the second number was answered by a man named Chris. After I explained the situation, Chris took down our location and promised to be with us before midday.

‘When he arrived, Chris said he thought Alan was quite young and as it was the Bank Holiday weekend, he could have been stuck with no food or water for a couple of days.’

Chris told Lisa that he would take the bat home, feed and water him, check him for injuries and make sure he could fly. He told Lisa he would bring Alan back to the office in a few days to let him go at dusk. 

‘Chris has promised to call me so I can come and watch the release, said Lisa. ‘He thinks Alan’s family are probably in the office roof. When he’s ready to be released, Chris will wait outside the office for Alan’s family to fly out and then let him go. 

‘Like us, Chris was overjoyed to see this little guy as he hasn’t seen many of this particular species. Luckily, all bat species, their breeding sites and resting places are fully protected by law, which is great news for Alan and his pals!’