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Bat Boxes – Weekend Project
British bats are one of our wildlife treasures, all 17 UK species are protected by law due to their dramatically reduced numbers and they are an absolute joy to watch in the late evenings.
Being lucky enough to live on a farm in Cumbria we have a thriving bat population and can sit out at night and watch them flying ….. occasionally they manage to get in doors, then it is panic stations to get them outside safely and then clean the droppings off the tv and computer …. wow they ‘drop’ a lot.
I confess they may not be the prettiest beasts when you get up close and personal but when you see them fly you see a thing of real beauty.
Last weekend was European Bat Weekend and saw bat enthusiasts going on bat walks and talks. Organised by the Bat Conservation Trust the weekend was to educate people in the reasons for declining numbers of bats and how we can protect them, as well as why they are so important to our UK wildlife in general.
Jonathan Shaw, Minister for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: “The importance of bats as a species group and as an indicator of the health of the rest of our wildlife is not always recognised, which is why the Bat Conservation Trust’s work to raise the profile of these unique animals is so valuable.”
During September bats will begin to mate and store fat for the coming winter but safe roosts are crucial to their successful breeding. Bats usually only have one offspring per year so they really need our help to return to previous numbers.
Natural England has some that may help you to get the kids interested and involved in protecting bats.
A great weekend project for the workshop is to make and site bat boxes. The Wildlife Trust have a diagram and dimensions on building and siting a bat box and the Offwell Woodland & Wildlife Trust have a much more comprehensive article about building bat boxes, with an interesting postscript on how long it took for bats to be seen using the boxes.
February 2nd, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Hi Sally,
I am new to your site but really enjoyed reading your about page. My first wellies were pink with flowers on, great looking but not practical.
I live on a farm and see lots of bats flying around so I would be interested to make a bat box. Like you we have had a bat in the house. My husband first saw something fly past the study door up the stairs and then fly back but thought that he was imagining it, until we realised we had a bat in the house. I tried to get a photograph when it was in the bathroom but ended up with my nose peeled to the bathroom floor as the bat swooped around so no photo. My husband has made me an owl box for Christmas so maybe a bat box will be next!
Kind regards
Sara
farmingfriends’s last blog post..Daily Farm Update At Farming Friends 02/02/09
February 2nd, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Hi Sara welcome to my little blog of ramblings. Had a good chortle at your trying to take a pic of the bat, know exactly what you mean .. a mixture of come here little thing while I rescue you and trying to get under the sofa when they swoop. Would love to hear how your husband made your owl box, perhaps he could let us know if he has time and I can put it in as a guest post.
I just love your blog, what great pictures.