This book will help anyone understand the fun and adventures to be had working with these fascinating animals. Packed with insider information, it offers expert guidance on how to identify bats in the hand. As you learn the process of handling them safely, you will also discover the key features that distinguish one species from another.

Filling a gap between basic books and more technical volumes, this guide uses humour, mnemonics, rhymes and images as it communicates in simple terms the techniques required when training for a bat licence. Detailed images, diagrams and tables help in comparison between species, and the fundamentals of bat ecology and survey equipment are discussed. All British bat species are covered, as well as possible vagrants.

Warning: James’s infectious enthusiasm for bats is likely to rub off – reading about these fascinating mammals may well become a lifelong obsession.