A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE 



salmon are ascending a stream the porpoises try to get between them 

 and the narrow part of the river if true would account for this, even if 

 the more obvious reason, the porpoises following the salmon as far as they 

 could up the river, did not do so. Since the erection of the Navigation 

 Weirs at Gloucester and Tewkesbury the appearance of a porpoise in 

 Worcestershire is almost unknown. The result is that the ordinary 

 Worcestershire mammals are confined to the bats {Cheiroptera), insect 

 eaters {Insectivord) moles and shrews, the small carnivora and the rodents, 

 which give a total of thirty-two. 



The only list of the county mammals which has yet been published 

 was that in 1834 by Sir Charles Hastings in his Illustrations of the Natural 

 History of Worcestershire, which is not and did not claim to be exhaus- 

 tive and was in some cases compiled on insufficient observations. It is 

 believed that the present is the first attempt that has been made to 

 give a complete list. From the varied nature of different parts of the 

 county it is quite possible that some species with a very local range may 

 be omitted, but it is believed all are included. Those mentioned have 

 been strictly verified, while some, Uke the greater horse-shoe bat {Rhino- 

 lophus ferrum-equinuni) which Sir Charles Hastings mentions as having 

 been found in Worcestershire, but of which no verified recorded appear- 

 ance exists, and is not usually found so far north, are omitted. 



CHEIROPTERA 



1. Lesser Horse-shoe Bat. Rhinolophus h'lppo- 



siderus, Bechstein. 



The lesser horse-shoe bat is by no means rare 

 in this county as well as in the adjoining ones. 

 It is generally found singly, though sometimes 

 in considerable numbers. Many years ago it 

 frequented the roof of Ragley Hall, the seat 

 of the Marquis of Hertford, from which place 

 the author took a considerable number, some 

 of which were kept alive for two or three 

 weeks. They were remarkably shy and re- 

 tiring in their habits, but particularly quiet 

 and gentle. In the large open space in the 

 roof of the mansion some of these small bats 

 might be seen flitting about in the gloom at 

 any time of the day, but they shunned observ- 

 ation, and retreated to some cranny or joint 

 in the timber when approached. Although 

 numerous there, they were always found 

 hidden away singly. Of the flight of this 

 bat or of its habits when abroad in the night 

 I can say nothing, not a single example hav- 

 ing ever in my experience been obtained by 

 the use of the gun. 



2. Long-eared Bat. Plecotus auritus, Linn. 

 The comparatively enormous size of the 



ears of this bat will at once distinguish it 

 from all other British species. Each ear is 



almost as long as the body and head of the 

 animal. If you could imagine a horse with 

 ears five or six feet long, you would have 

 some idea of the relative size of those parts 

 in this remarkable species. Though not by 

 any means abundant, the long-eared bat is 

 not local in Worcestershire, but inhabits the 

 whole of the county. Old buildings and 

 churches are its favourite places of retire- 

 ment, but so far as has at present been 

 observed, preference is shown to certain 

 spots, where they congregate, though they 

 are not properly speaking gregarious. 



3. Barbastelle. Barhastella barbastellus, Schre- 

 ber. 



Bell — Barbastellus daubentonii. 

 This is a very solitary species, and by no 

 means common in the county. All sorts of 

 odd places are chosen by the barbastelle in 

 which to repose during the day. Any crev- 

 ice will serve its turn, and it would seem 

 that the same place is not frequented on con- 

 secutive days, as bats of this species have 

 more than once been found in places which 

 could only be temporary. I remember to 

 have seen one taken from a stack of boards 

 in a timber yard at Arrow near Alcester, 

 which stack had only been put there the day 



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