A harmless bat every night he eats up to 2,000 mosquitoes and other insects
Maybe not beautiful to behold, but they are harmless and, above all, are the real engines of war against mosquitoes: it can also swallow 2,000 per night. For a summer without a bat bites taken: Now comes the 'bat box'.
As the name suggests, is a box designed to accommodate the bats and is the solution of the park Orobie Bergamasche to increase the number of shelters for these ancient mammals, whose presence in Bergamo has been greatly reduced in recent decades for reasons other than , all due to human activity on the environment.
Park is providing these days, which coincided with the awakening from hibernation, distribution of 60 bat boxes in the elementary and middle schools in the province of Bergamo. The Park invites everyone to install bat boxes, designed and built in collaboration between experts from the Wildlife Park and Forest Consortium, in all the farms undergoing restructuring, in gardens and open spaces, contributing effectively to increase the number of cavities that can be used as dens by bats.
"The best strategy to increase the number of bats is to preserve the vegetation and protect the natural shelters such as caves and hollow trees, where the specimens retire to rest, to breed and hibernate - said the Chairman of the Park Orobie Bergamasche Franco Grassi -. Unfortunately, human action a long time since going in the opposite direction. The degradation of forests, cutting of old trees and hedges, the disorder in the caves and the reduction of insect food preferred by bats, due to the use of pesticides, are slowly but surely destroying the habitat of the three families and 11 species of bats that live in our province. Practical help to protect these animals is the bat-box, which can be hung from a tree or wall of a building. Here the bats can find temporary shelter, the females can give birth and raise their young or to find a safe haven for the months of hibernation. "
It is the month of March, the best time to place the bat boxes, which should be placed 4 feet from the ground, safe from predators, protected from the weather and away from light, with no obstacles in the entrance area. The installation is better on the outside wall of the house or the trunk of a large tree into the wind. Following these precautions and with a little 'patience the bats will come and find shelter, usually temporary, but safe. "The park also has a bat detector we need to record the ultrasound emitted by these animals to detect obstacles and compensate for the high myopia that characterizes them - Grassi concludes -. We would like it to initiate a monitoring systematic bats to know them better and improve our activities to protect these unique animals, excellent hunters, over which so many legends, but in reality in our country are totally harmless to humans. Indeed, they can help to counter mosquitoes and other insects harmful to agriculture, and their feces are a great natural fertilizer. "
is not true that bats sneak through his hair - experts explain - and sucking blood. The species that live in Bergamo because they feed only on insects, including mosquitoes, which are able to swallow as many as 2,000 individuals at night.
For more information on bat boxes can be contacted Park Orobie Bergamo (Via Camozzi 111, Bergamo - tel 035.224249 - fax 035.219333 - email: @ settore.faunistico parcorobie.it).
To buy a bat box, you can contact the Forest Consortium tel. 0346-62474 info@cfpresolana.it
L'Eco di Bergamo - March 15, 2011 Chronicle
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