In three forest districts in southern Poland, we are completing the construction of forest huts for bats. These intriguing, small, wooden and concrete structures are the last twenty of the hundred planned as part of the project. Their primary task is to create a set of satellite shelters around the towers and artificial wintering grounds built on state forest land.
These last secure hides for the flying mammals were built in the Baligród Forest District, near the former village of Rabe in the Bieszczady Mountains, and in the forest districts of Bielsko and Ustroń, near Brenna and Jaworze. Nineteen have been completed so far – they are still in their raw state, but in early spring they will be equipped with roofs (creating lofts for lesser horseshoe bats) and wooden facades (offering hiding spaces for bats that prefer crevices and tight spaces, such as barbastelles, some noctules and pipistrelles).
20-19=?
Those with a talent for mathematics will have noticed that we are still missing one hut to make the calculation complete. Yes, its construction was not planned until spring. It will be located right next to the old underground tunnel, to which it will be connected. Due to the bats already hibernating underground, we decided to postpone its erection.
It is worth noting that six of the huts being built as part of the Life project were co-financed by a grant from the PGE Foundation. These are the Konczakówka Hut, the Jasionka Hut and the Niedźwiedzia Hut (Ustroń Forest District) as well as the Relax Hut, the Znaczkula Hut and the Paprotniak Hut (Bielsko Forest District). These huts are located in areas frequented by tourists and walkers in the vicinity of Brenna, the Wapienica dam and near the spa town of Jaworze.
