By John Peters
The Hackberry Men are at it again!
Last fall you read in the Millstone about the new Hackberry Men’s Shed working with the Canadian Wildlife Federation. The Shed produced for the CWF 50 maternity bat houses in the early fall to help battle the white-nose syndrome that has been decimating the North American bat population.
This spring, after lengthy discussions with the CWF, we settled on a new, more Canadian, model of maternity bat house. This one has 3 chambers instead of 4 but is 26 inches wide instead of 17 inches, hence it has even more space and can accommodate over 300 bats. International research shows that 25 inches or more high (both of our models were 30 inches high) and 25 inches or more wide give a better chance of being used by the bats.
So in April and May of this year, the Hackberry Men’s Shed tackled and completed the construction of another 50 bat houses, this time made entirely of local Canadian white cedar. These houses are already being installed in the Ottawa area. Should you want to help the CWF with this program, contact them through their website to learn if your site is appropriate for the installation of one of these houses and possibly have a free house erected at your place.
