Lesser horseshoe bat

Rhinolophus hipposideros Today, 3 October

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

now courting 52 days

courting Mammal here all year

The whole year

25 September – 24 November

the coastal calendar, shifted 24 days later for this region

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	25 November – 17 April	144 days	True hibernation: body temperature drops and the animal cannot simply wake.
going about the year	18 April – 24 May	37 days	Feeding, holding territory, doing nothing the calendar singles out.
pregnant	25 May – 13 July	50 days	Pregnant. Nothing to see from outside, which is why the dates matter.
raising young	14 July – 24 August	42 days	Dependent young in the nest, den or burrow, being fed.
young out of the den	25 August – 24 September	31 days	Young out of the nest or den, but still fed and followed by the adults.
courting	25 September – 24 November	61 days	Song, display, fighting, scent-marking — pairs forming or reaffirming. Mated in autumn, but the sperm is stored all winter and fertilisation waits for spring.

Other mammals in this region

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

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