B is for Bat; C is for Codegate; D is for Dracula!

Posted on 27 August 2010

As you may know, Codegate occupies a beautifully converted Granary in rural Oxfordshire which dates back just over two hundred years, although in those days it was thatched and stood some eighteen inches lower than it does today.  It is not the usual pristine conversion which so often loses all semblance of the original rustic charm to modern building techniques and materials. The Granary is still very much an agricultural building, albeit with more insulation, central heating and a few less draughts, but only a few less!

We are frequently reminded that we share our office space with the sort of wildlife you expect to find in the middle of a 600-acre farm as you may have seen in our twitter photo recently. We’re also extremely fortunate in having MITIE Pest Control as a customer and valued advisor on how to deal with some of the less desirable visitors we receive. During one visit by their Managing Director, Pete Trotman, he declared in a very matter of fact way; “You do realise you have bats, don’t you?” Our response was more one of incredulity, but his explanation of the contents and makeup of some droppings brought the point home. More recently our landlord, the farmer of all those acres of land, had cause to investigate the Granary because the burglar alarm had been set off at 11:30pm. He entered the building, ascended the stairs to the third floor opened the windows then left to go back to his bed. The next day he asked if we’d noticed the windows were open and when asked why, he replied, “To let the bat out.”

On Wednesday we came into the office and found a rather poorly looking bat on the carpet, barely moving. Penny took it upon herself as Office Manager to wrap the poor thing in a towel and provided it with a small quantity of water in a disused bottle top. We now understand you shouldn’t handle these little creatures but if you must, then wear thick gloves – you’ve been warned. Meanwhile Technical Manager Chris telephoned the local vet who suggested calling the Bat Conservation Trust.

The BCT sent David Endacott, one of their experts to assess the situation and within three hours he was on the doorstep facsinated by both the Granary and our little visitor. He proclaimed the Granary wasn’t being used as a roost but on a temporary basis as a maternity unit for nuturing the young. He explained our visitor was a young male who’d got himself a bit lost and had become weak trying to find his way out. He took the little fellow away and we got back to our work. For more information look at this great web site; http://www.bats.org.uk/

If you’d like to know how our little visitor got on, let me know…