---
title: Bats near home: pipistrelles, noctules, bat boxes and why never to p… — how Mova does on the tests · Biology
description: Lesson 315 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 6 of 11 tests right, exam 1 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/) / 315

# Bats near home: pipistrelles, noctules, bat boxes and why never to pick one up

<!-- .vintro -->
**Tests:** 6 of 11 right · **Exam:** 1 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★★ · **Understood:** 12 of 15 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

<!-- .vabout -->
Lesson 315 of the biology course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/).

<!-- .vabout -->
Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/).

<!-- div qa ok -->

### Test 1 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t1}

<!-- .q -->
«a bat nearly got stuck in my hair!!» What is true?

- **1.** Bats aim for hair to steal it for their nests, so they can keep their babies warm — score 2
- **2.** Bats are blind and crash into heads — score 2
- **3.** Bats do not tangle in hair; it was probably catching insects around you — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 7
- **4.** Bats nest in hair, so wear a hat — score 1

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 7, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 315, line 16: «Bats do not get tangled in people's hair; a bat swooping near your head is most likely catching insects flying around you, and its echoes can dodge a thread.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «hair» (+4); the same action «tangle» (+3). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/t1/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa no -->

### Test 2 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t2}

<!-- .q -->
«there's a bat on the patio in daylight, can i just pick it up and put it in a box» What should happen?

- **1.** Yes, pick it up and cuddle it — **← Mova's choice** · score 5
- **2.** Leave it out in the sun to warm up for a week, then it will fly away — no support
- **3.** Do not touch it; tell a grown-up, who calls a bat helpline or vet — **✓ the right answer** · score 5
- **4.** Yes, then throw it up so it can fly — score 2

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 315, line 12: «A bat caught by a cat needs a rescuer even if it looks fine, because tiny wounds from cat teeth can become infected and kill the bat days later; cats catch man…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «catch» (+3); the same thing acted on «bat» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 5. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/t2/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa ok -->

### Test 3 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t3}

<!-- .q -->
«the cat dragged in a bat but it flew off fine, so all good yeah?» What is right?

- **1.** Not really; bats caught by cats need a rescuer, as tiny wounds can kill later — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 8
- **2.** Yes, if it flies it can never be hurt — score 2
- **3.** Yes, bats heal any wound in a minute, even a very deep bite from a cat or a dog — no support
- **4.** Yes, cat teeth are clean — no support

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 315, line 12: «A bat caught by a cat needs a rescuer even if it looks fine, because tiny wounds from cat teeth can become infected and kill the bat days later; cats catch man…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «catch» (+4); the same circumstance (+3); the same thing acted on «bat» (+1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/t3/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa ok -->

### Test 4 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t4}

<!-- .q -->
Your mate wants to open the bat box to show his little brother. What should you say?

- **1.** No, opening it disturbs roosting bats, which is against the law without a licence — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 6
- **2.** Yes, if you knock on the box first and wait for the bats to come out and say hello — no support
- **3.** Yes, bats love visitors in the day — no support
- **4.** Yes, but only shake it a little — score 2

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 6, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 315, line 10: «In Britain it is against the law to disturb roosting bats or open a bat box without a licence; trained bat workers with licences check the boxes and count the…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same thing acted on «roosting bats» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/t4/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa no -->

### Test 5 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t5}

<!-- .q -->
Count them: a summer roost has 40 mother bats, and each usually has one baby. About how many babies are born?

- **1.** About 80 — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** About 4 — no support
- **3.** About 400 — no support
- **4.** About 40 — **✓ the right answer** · no support

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/t5/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa no -->

### Test 6 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t6}

<!-- .q -->
Count them: 6 pipistrelles each weigh about 5 grams. About how much do they weigh together?

- **1.** About 3 grams — **← Mova's choice** · score 4
- **2.** About 11 grams — score 4
- **3.** About 300 grams — score 4
- **4.** About 30 grams — **✓ the right answer** · score 4

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 186, line 8: «The bumblebee bat, about the size of a big bumblebee and weighing about two grams, is one of the smallest mammals, and small bodies need little food but lose h…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+2); the same action «weigh» (+1); the same doer «bumblebee bat» (+1). The right option, 4, scored 4. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/t6/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa ok -->

### Test 7 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t7}

<!-- .q -->
What would happen to a local group of bats if a house owner sealed up the roof where they raise their babies?

- **1.** Nothing, bats raise babies anywhere — score 3
- **2.** They would move into the fridge — score 0
- **3.** The mothers would lose their nursery, and with one baby a year the group could shrink — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 5
- **4.** The bats would simply lay their eggs outside instead, in little nests in the garden hedge — score 0

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 3 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 315, line 14: «In summer, mother bats gather in roofs and walls to raise their babies, each usually having only one baby a year, so losing one roost can hurt a whole local gr…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+5). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/t7/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa no -->

### Test 8 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t8}

<!-- .q -->
In a cartoon Batman's bats live in a dark cave and all hang there all year round. What do real British bats do?

- **1.** Fly south to Africa every winter like swallows, and come back to Britain each spring to roost — no support
- **2.** Sleep all summer and fly all winter — no support
- **3.** Live in one cave for ever and never move — **← Mova's choice** · score 8
- **4.** Raise babies in summer roosts like roofs and trees, and hibernate somewhere cool in winter — **✓ the right answer** · score 3

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 3 with score 8, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 89, line 12: «The olm lives in dark caves in Slovenia and nearby; it has no colour, and its eyes are hidden under skin, because in total darkness eyes were no use and faded…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same place «dark caves» (+5); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same action «live» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 4, scored 3. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/t8/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa ok -->

### Test 9 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t9}

<!-- .q -->
You walk with a bat detector and the steady clicks suddenly become a fast buzz. What just happened?

- **1.** The bat was closing in on an insect — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 2
- **2.** A big bird swooped and scared the bat away — no support
- **3.** The batteries ran out — no support
- **4.** The bat fell asleep in the air — no support

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 315, line 8: «When a bat closes in on an insect, its clicks speed up into a buzz that can be well over a hundred clicks a second, because more clicks give more echoes and a…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+3); the same doer «bat» (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/t9/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa ok -->

### Test 10 · ★★ · right ✓ {#t10}

<!-- .q -->
«why would a bat pick a sunny box some days and a shady one other days» What is the best answer?

- **1.** To stay at a comfortable temperature, warmer or cooler — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 5
- **2.** They follow the cat around the garden and sleep wherever it sleeps — no support
- **3.** Bats like to sunbathe for a tan — score -2
- **4.** Sunny boxes are always full of food — no support

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 5, against -2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 229, line 11: «Bats rest upside down, gripping with their toes, so they can drop straight into flight, because taking off from the ground is hard for them; a lock in the toe…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «rest» (+3); the same doer «bats» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/t10/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa no -->

### Test 11 · ★★ · wrong ✗ {#t11}

<!-- .q -->
A man finds bats sleeping in a cold cellar in January and wakes them to look. Why is this harmful?

- **1.** It makes them grow too fast — score 3
- **2.** Waking uses up fat they need to survive the rest of winter — **✓ the right answer** · score 6
- **3.** It gives them a nasty cold — **← Mova's choice** · score 7
- **4.** It stops them flying for ever — no support

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 7, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 229, line 17: «Bat boxes give bats safe places to sleep as old hollow trees and barns disappear, and in Britain bats and their roosts are protected by law.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same receiver «bats» (+4); the same action «give» (+3); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 2, scored 6. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/t11/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa no -->

### Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e1}

<!-- .q -->
Identify the means by which the common and soprano pipistrelles were first distinguished as separate species.

- **1.** By a difference in the season of their flight — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** By a difference in the colour of their wings — no support
- **3.** By a difference in the pitch of their echolocation calls — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** By a difference in the number of their digits — no support

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/e1/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa no -->

### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2}

<!-- .q -->
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the protection of roosting bats in Britain.

- **1.** It is lawful for any person to open a bat box at any time — no support
- **2.** The law protects bats only within national parks — score 4
- **3.** Bats are protected solely during the winter months — **← Mova's choice** · score 5
- **4.** It is unlawful to disturb roosting bats or to inspect a bat box without a licence — **✓ the right answer** · score 5

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 229, line 17: «Bat boxes give bats safe places to sleep as old hollow trees and barns disappear, and in Britain bats and their roosts are protected by law.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «protect» (+3); the same thing acted on «bats» (+2). The right option, 4, scored 5. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/e2/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa ok -->

### Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓ {#e3}

<!-- .q -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the appropriate response upon finding a grounded bat in daylight?

- **1.** The bat should not be handled with bare hands, and an adult should contact a bat helpline or veterinary surgeon — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 3
- **2.** The bat should be fed milk and kept as a pet — no support
- **3.** The bat should be left exposed to the sun until it recovers — score 3
- **4.** The bat should be lifted by hand and released from a height — no support

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 315, line 11: «A bat on the ground in daytime may be hurt, cold, tired or a lost baby; never pick it up with bare hands, because some British bats carry a rare rabies-like vi…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «bat» (+4); the same circumstance (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/e3/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div qa no -->

### Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e4}

<!-- .q -->
Ascertain the reason for which the loss of a single summer roost may harm a local bat population.

- **1.** Bats lay numerous eggs which require a specific roof — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Roosts are the sole location in which bats are able to feed — no support
- **3.** Females gather there to raise usually a single young per year, so losses are slowly replaced — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** Bats are unable to fly without the shelter of a building — no support

<!-- .why -->
**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/e4/)

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [314. Bats of the world: flying foxes, vampire bats, t…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/314-bats-of-the-world-flying-foxes-vampire-bats-the-bumblebee-bat-and-tent-makers/)
- next →: [316. Rodents: the biggest group of mammals and their…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/316-rodents-the-biggest-group-of-mammals-and-their-ever-growing-teeth/)
- ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/)