BATS may have a frightening image, but residents are being invited to learn more about this misunderstood species.
The Manx Bat Group is holding a Bat Box Day at the Curraghs Wildlife Park on Saturday (February 16), where visitors will have a chance to make their own box and find out what makes them ideal for the nocturnal creatures.
The event has been planne
d to coincide with National Nest Box Week, an initiative of the British Trust for Ornithology adopted by the UK Bat Conservation Trust, as similar principles apply to bat and bird boxes.
The trust advises new bat boxes should be made to a recognised design and sited to suit the potential occupants – while existing boxes should be spring-cleaned – at this time of year.
Manx Bat Group recorder Nick Pinder said: 'More and more people are becoming aware that bats share their habitat with them.
'They are keen to help bats, by providing boxes where they can shelter and perhaps even breed.
'The Manx Bat Group has a very simple design. It's easy to knock up a box, and you can learn about the sorts of places they should go when we put them up around the wildlife park.'
The Curraghs Wildlife Park, run by the Department of Tourism and Leisure, is open daily during National Nest Box Week (until February 17) from 10am to 4pm. Bat Box Day starts on Saturday at 10.30am.
