INTERNATIONAL Shed Projects - Canada
Naismith Men’s Shed is also selling their bat houses to the public (in Canada). They are about 16"x 30" and will hold 100 bats. They come completely finished and ready for occupation. The Bat Houses are finished in a deep brown stain, which helps control the temperature for baby bats. Installation instructions are included. “This is a fun project, and people like to own them.” - Bob Dickson, Naismith Team Lead Check temperature considerations and bat-specie specifics for your own Shed’s region. Habitat loss is a threat to these little creatures; when land is cleared, they lose their warm, safe, dry, and quiet roost spots. On November 29, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reclassified the northern long-eared bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The bat faces extinction due to the wide-ranging impacts of white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease affecting cave-dwelling bats across the continent. The Naismith (Ontario, Canada) Shed was featured in The Millstone for making Bat Boxes. Bats are flying mammals that bring big benefits to the ecosystem: some pollinate plants, others eat insects, many serve as prey to other animals, and they also inspire scientific discoveries. Initially, the Hackberry Shed contracted with the Canadian Wildlife Federation to produce ‘maternity bat houses’ to support the bats, which are being decimated by white-nose syndrome, the North American bat disease. Hackberry eventually passed the building project over to a nearby Shed, the Naismith Men’s Shed, which then built additional boxes for the Mississippi Valley Conservation Assoc. (Canada). They have produced over 100 boxes. This spring, after lengthy discussions with the Canadian Wildlife Federation, the Naismith Shed created a newly designed model of ‘maternity bat houses’. These are made from local white cedar. The back panel and interior dividers are plywood, and the interior is roughed up with a special tool they designed. The boxes are hung approx. 15'+ off the ground with an unobstructed access to the door. Hanging the little houses on poles or installing them on south-facing (for temperature control) barn exteriors has the added benefit of limiting the predators that can access the boxes. Bat preservation websites can be consulted for further information.
Bats provide over 3.7 Billion dollars in pest control benefits to the US economy.
9 Hackberry - located in Carleton Place, ON - is named after a rare tree growing in the area, and Naismith (in Mississippi Mills) is named after Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. naismithmensshed.ca
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator