Volunteers build des res for bats in Harrogate's Pinewoods
8 October 2009
Twenty-two female bats and one male are now calling bat boxes in the Pinewoods at Harrogate's Valley Gardens home.
Members of the Pinewoods' Conservation Group have now provided 44 boxes in the woods and this latest survey has been carried out by local bat man Digby Angus and Geoff Scurrah, Chairman of the Conservation Group.
Among the 23 bats they have found two Pipistrelles which are amongst the country's smallest and most common bat species.
Paul Casey, Harrogate Borough Council's Arboricultural Manager, says that he is delighted with the growing bat numbers.
He said: "
There are 17 species of bats in Britain, all of which can use trees as roosts, whether that be in the form of a tree cavity or hole, or a man-made bat box.
The tree roosts themselves offer a wide variety of conditions that bats require at different times of year.
Bats and their roosts are all afforded statutory protection.
"We are protecting and helping to enhance our bats and other wildlife through sensitive and proactive woodland and environmental management techniques.
We are currently looking to see whether the roosting bats we have identified are returning to roost year-on-year. We will also be looking to work with local bat groups to see whether we can hold bat walks within the wood, using bat monitoring and identification technology and possibly even handling bats themselves." ENDS
Media contact:
Lynne Mee, Communications and Media Manager, 01423 556022 email
lynne.mee@harrogate.gov.uk or mobile 07525 987921 or 07884 226409