Bats & Ladders: Stories from the Real World of Bat Conservation

Here are the remarkable and captivating tales from one woman’s nearly 40-year career spent looking for bats and their roosts. Humorous and honest, she writes about these fascinating animals, and about dodgy ladders, small spaces and a multitude of characters – sometimes delightful, occasionally awful, but always human. George Bemment introduces the wonder of British bats and shares what it takes to be involved in wildlife conservation. From the rigours of surveys, to otters in wheelbarrows, and interactions with police and the press, we find out about life at the sharp end of being an ecologist on the ground… and in the attic. With no shortage of poo stories along the way – think dung pits, latrines, smelly roosts – and intriguing interactions with animals, from milking aardvarks to a house full of rabbits, George takes us behind the scenes of a life working with and protecting wildlife. Amidst the variety of curious and intriguing animal behaviour she has witnessed over the years, it is, of course, humans who turn out to be the oddest creatures of all.