Identifying Bat Droppings - What Bat Have I Seen?

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The National Bat Helpline can answer your questions and concerns about bats and give you advice.

0345 1300 228

We are partially closed Friday 2nd January and are only able to take your urgent bat care queries today. Thank you for your patience. 

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Identifying bat droppings

1. About Bats
2. What bat have I seen?
3. Identifying bat droppings

Bat droppings can look very similar to mouse droppings (dark and shaped like grains of rice) but they can be easily distinguished from rodent droppings by doing the ‘crumble test’

How to do the crumble test:

Roll a dropping in a piece of tissue, between your finger and thumb. If it crumbles under only a little pressure, it’s a bat dropping. Sometimes crushed bat droppings looks sparkly in the light.

Most commonly bat droppings accumulate underneath the roost, and below the points bats use to access their roost. In buildings, bat droppings might be found in the loft or close to the eaves.

All bats in the UK are insectivores, so their droppings are made up of dried insect remains. Generally there is nothing to worry about with bat droppings. In very rare situations some people can develop allergies, so we suggest you wash your hands after handling any droppings. If you need to clean up a large number of droppings then you might want to consider wearing a dust mask.

Request our droppings identification guide

This handy guide is a fantastic identification tool for anyone wanting to identify bat droppings. It is small enough to fold up and keep in your pocket, wallet or purse!

The guide is double sided, with the back page giving detailed information about the size and texture of different droppings, as well as descriptions and guidance where they are most likely to be found.

If you are interested in the guide, you can request one by emailing us at [email protected]. We suggest making a donation of £3 + £1 postage to cover the costs.

Alternatively, if you have a printer at home, you can now access a digital, downloadable version of the guide, along with printing and folding instructions, for a donation of £3. Simply click here to download your guide.

What bat have I seen?

• Submit a photograph
• Identifying bat droppings
• I've seen a bat flying at an unusual time

Related content

Submit a photograph

What do I need to know about having bats?

National Bat Helpline0345 1300 228

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