Man surprised to find colony of bats inhabiting shoes he left on balcony

Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work!

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

A man in Warsaw received a surprise when he discovered that a colony of bats had moved into a pair of shoes he had left on his balcony. Local animal services, who were called out to help, believe they had planned to hibernate for the winter.

Municipal police officers specialising in nature-related issues, known as Ekopatrol, were called out by a man who had reported bats inhabiting his balcony.

That in itself would not have been unusual. But, when they arrived on the scene, “the sight they encountered surprised them”, wrote the police. “The shoes on the balcony were swarming with bats” – around 20 in total.

“Protecting themselves from the cold, they had found a rather unusual hiding place. The sight of the small, winged mammals huddled together could have been heartwarming, but it was not the best or safest place for them to hibernate.”

The officers therefore carefully removed the animals and relocated them to Warsaw City Forests, a complex of forests located in the city, where they are now being cared for by specialists. 

Given the difficulty of removing the bats from the shoes without harming or stressing them, the man agreed to “sacrifice his shoes for the sake of the peace of the unusual guests nesting within”, wrote the offices, who praised him for his “empathy”.

Bats regularly seek shelter during Poland’s cold winters, often hibernating from mid-November to March, notes National Geographic Polska. This allows them to survive when insects, their main source of food, are scarce.

While often the animals hibernate in natural environments, such as caves and hollows in trees, they also sometimes take shelter in man-made structures, like tunnels and basements.

“In recent years, bats have been invading Warsaw apartments for the winter,” Błażej Wojtowicz, president of the Polish Bat Protection Society, told National Geographic. “In February, I personally pulled over 60 bats out from under a windowsill because a tenant couldn’t sleep – they were squeaking constantly.”

He identified the bats in the latest incident as common noctule bats. In the past, that species would not hibernate in Poland, instead migrating long distances to warmer regions of Europe in winter. However, their behaviour has recently changed, and the bats now commonly remain in Poland year-round.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Straż Miejska Warszawa

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.