On the wheelbarrow wheel she discovered something brown which she first thought was leaves from the trees. But it was a bat. A much larger bat than the ones she usually visits. In Målselv and Bardu, which are the only places in Troms, there are several small colonies of northern bats. Some of the bats use Solberg’s dark loft in the spring and summer. Now there was a large bat hanging from the wheel of the wheelbarrow. It was breathing, but was very slow in its movements. Never before has this type of bat been observed north of Trondheim. And until now there has not been a single copy of it in Norwegian museum collections. Laila Solberg posted a picture of her rare guest, and Nye Troms wrote about the matter. With its dark wings, you understand where Batman got inspiration for his cape. The giant bat is one of the largest bats in Europe. Photo: Laila Solberg The starving big bat can have a wingspan of up to 40 centimetres, which is almost twice as long as the northern bat’s. It is considered to be a highly endangered animal species. For four days the bat hung upside down on the wheelbarrow wheel. Laila was always away looking after it, because it kept her busy with the gardening. Most likely it was exhausted from hunger. In October there are no insects to hunt. How it strayed all the way to Indre Troms, when it really should have been on its way to warmer areas to winter, is just speculation. – Basically, it is capable of flying long distances, but it could also have hitchhiked with, for example, a cargo ship, says bat expert Jeroen van der Kooij. For a number of years he has been looking for large bats in Norway. Now a copy has been found, but in a completely different area than Jeroen van der Kooij expected. Photo: Geir Randby / news Heard through ultrasound Although giant bats in Norway were mentioned by zoologist Robert Collett already at the end of the 19th century, a physical discovery has never before been recorded and taken care of. That is, on 28 September 1987, a large bat appeared when the high school on Finnøy in Rogaland was to be renovated. A dentist did examinations which confirmed that it was a large bat. Then he released it. Since then, several persistent attempts have been made to capture a specimen of the species, says bat expert Jeroen van der Kooij. Bat boxes and nets have been put out, to no avail. – The vast majority of other registrations we have of this kind are through sound. With the help of an ultrasound detector, the big bat can be distinguished from other species, because it has a very characteristic bLip-bLop sound, he says. Envious of Tromsø Now he is happy that it is possible to see it up close. – It has been frustrating, we do not know of a single colony or habitat of the species in Norway, he says. Bat expert van der Kooij admits that he is a little envious of Tromsø, which has now got a giant bat in its scientific collection. Five days after Solberg found the wheelbarrow occupant, associate professor Karl Frafjord from Norway’s Arctic University Museum came to Øverbygd to examine the large bat. Then it was just dead. Now it is put on alcohol. The bat is now at the Tromsø museum. Photo: news If there was money, one could have researched the special bat. One could have examined the fur and found out where it had spent the summer of 2022, and one could have taken genetic samples and discovered which colony it came from. It will be mentioned in future bat articles, not to be exhibited. – Unless there is great interest from the public. Then we will of course show it off, says Frafjord.
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Large bats on the loose in Troms made history – news Troms and Finnmark
