today's dracula daily had me wondering what kind of bat dracula might be posing as, so I looked up a few things.
Largest species in the British Isles: Noctule Bat (Nyctalus noctula) with a wingspan of 32-40cm (12.6 to 15.7 inches) Another large bat species: Serotine Bat (Eptesicus serotinus) with a wingspan of 32-38cm (12.6 to 15.0 inches), less common species found in southern England and Wales Most common: Soprano Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) with a wingspan of 19-23cm (7.5 to 9.1 inches) Second Most common: the visually nearly identical (though slightly bigger) Common Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) with a wingspan up to 20cm (7.9 inches)
source for above: woodland trust
Now those would be the bats that Mina considers normal sized. Now bats certainly range much larger, such as the golden crowned flying fox with a wingspan of five feet. But I don't think we need to look so far from England for a bat that Dracula might turn into that Mina perhaps would view as "giant"
the largest species in mainland Europe is the greater noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus), with a wingspan up to 46cm (18 in). The greater noctule bat is also one of the few bats known to eat passerine birds*, and the only species that hunts them on the wing (in flight) versus while roosting*.
It's rare in Romania, but it's there. And it looks incredibly adorable
image description: a chocolate brown bat with a silver band on one wing upside down on what appears to be either rock or wood, it is hard to tell for sure. The bat has its mouth open, displaying its teeth, including its pointy fangs. image source: wikipedia
*Aka perching birds. Think sparrows, songbirds, corvids. Passerines are a very diverse group of birds. *There may be another species of bat that also does this, the Great evening bat (Ia io) of eastern and southeastern Asia.
