Togher N.S.

Bats

People say as blind as a bat but that cannot be true because bats have brilliant eyes, only if its middle of the night they cannot see. Bats live in empty buildings & hollow trees. The smallest bat is a kittis hog nosed bat. They measure just 3.3cm and weigh just 2 grams.
Bats eat a wide variety of food. Most of the smaller bats eat insect such as moths and flies, but some hunt animals about their size. Some insect bats can scurry along if they have to, but many bats cannot walk and actually avoid land on the ground. If they do land on the ground they find it hard to take of again.
Bats fly the same way as birds and insects. By flapping their wings downwards they push against the air underneath them, forcing them self up. Bats hunt at night, in the dark although their their eyes do work most rely on their senses to find their prey. Bats are the only flying mammal.
In 1993 a new species of bat was discovered in Britain called the soprano pipistrelle.

Hare
I am a hare. I am a bit like a rabbit but I am bigger.
I have longer ears and back legs. I can move much quicker than a rabbit.
A baby hare is called a leveret.

The Otter

The Otter uses its long tail and webbed feet to help them swim.
The Otter love to eat fish and eels. They make their homes in riverbanks.

The Otters have is a small-flattened head, a long thick tail that narrows to a point. It can be 90cm, which is about a metre. It belongs to the same family as the stoat, pine martin and badger. The otter is a carnivore, witch means that s/he usually eats meat and shell fish. To get at the shellfish the otter bangs it against a stone. Their very playful animals and they are seen jumping in and out of the water just for fun. I love the Otter.

Stoats hunt for rats, mice, rabbits and birds.
The tip of its tail is black.
In cold counties in winter its fur changes to white but the tip of its tail stays black.
A fur called ermine used to be made from its winter coat.
The Irish stoat is about 30cm long.
The Irish stoat which is common throughout the country.
The stoat is the smallest of Ireland's flesh eating mammals and it is wrongly called a weasel.
There are no weasels in Ireland. It was not until the 18th century that it was discovered that what was thought to be a weasel, was really a stoat.

Foxes

The fox is one of the most common mammals in Ireland.
Foxes have red coats and live in earths foxes hunt at night and eat rabbits,mice,beetles and fruit. A male fox is called a dog and a female fox is called a vixen. Foxes swim well and can climb trees.
Most mammals live in the country foxes sometimes use the old home of a badger.