when out at night I see little swallow like creatures, normally in 2s flying around like crazy. Can't be swallows...must be...bats? Are they dangerous?
bats my dear, i reckon - especially if its dusk. we have the little critters here in the middle of a city but id on't think they are dangerous unless you come into close contact with them...i think they are quite sweet. i like lazing in the garden late evening finishing a glass of wine and watching them zoom about. they lead very hectic lives when they are awke!
i get scared of things like that, dunno why. It's the flapping.
IAP the barn must stink, ammonia isn't it?
echolocation pretty neat though. I wonder what it's like to be a bat?
We often get bats round here Margo, and they won't hurt you. They're fascinating little creatures. A bat was recently found to've been carrying bat rabies - in Surrey i think - but again, it posed no danger to human beings, although it was destroyed.
I've got bats round my farm, Marg0 and they're lovely little things. Don't worry about rabies, it's very rare and Britain is rabies-free (although there was a case a while ago). Bats are protected so it's against the law to harm them, or disturb their roosts. They eat all those horrid mozzies that bite us, so just be glad you've got them. (Contrary to popular belief, they don't get tangled up in our hair, either!)