Lesser horseshoe bat

Rhinolophus hipposideros Today, 3 October

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

now courting 6 days

courting Mammal here all year

The whole year

1 September – 9 October

dates recorded for this region, not shifted from anywhere

Sitting the year outGetting readyYoung aboutYoung leaving

Where to look

Caves and church attics; the maternity roost is the whole colony and is legally untouchable.

Worth knowing

One pup a year, and it cannot fly for a month, so the colony cannot move if it is disturbed between late June and early August. Karst Croatia holds some of the largest colonies left in Europe.

Look it up

photos, sightings and recordings, off this site

iNaturalist — photos and where people are seeing it Wikipedia — Rhinolophus hipposideros

Regions

where this species is on the list

Dalmatian coastKvarner and IstriaVelebit and the DinaridesSlavonia and the Pannonian plainTukhlia, Ukrainian Carpathians

Phase by phase

dates as they fall in the region chosen above

Phase	When	Length	What it means
hibernating	10 October – 9 April	182 days	True hibernation: body temperature drops and the animal cannot simply wake.
going about the year	10 April – 14 May	35 days	Feeding, holding territory, doing nothing the calendar singles out.
pregnant	15 May – 24 June	41 days	Pregnant. Nothing to see from outside, which is why the dates matter.
raising young	25 June – 31 July	37 days	Dependent young in the nest, den or burrow, being fed.
young out of the den	1 August – 31 August	31 days	Young out of the nest or den, but still fed and followed by the adults.
courting	1 September – 9 October	39 days	Song, display, fighting, scent-marking — pairs forming or reaffirming.

Other mammals in this region

Beech martenBrown bearEdible dormouseEurasian lynxEuropean badgerEuropean hareGrey wolfNorthern white-breasted hedgehogRed deerRed foxRoe deerWild boar

← All species