Poo will help bats find new home

[jonsdigs]

Poo will help bats find new home
CBBC Newsround
Last Updated: Wednesday November 01 2006 19:27 GMT

The smell of their own poo is being used to attract bats to a new home.

Burnley Council came up with the brainwave because a leisure centre often used by the creatures is being pulled down.

The bats aren't living there at the moment, but they will need somewhere to bring up their babies in the spring.

So the council is storing bat poo from the old nest and taking it to a new one in the hope that the creatures will follow their noses.

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The Thompson Centre has been a favourite hiding place for the bats for some time.

It's being demolished in the New Year and council officials have found a nearby building that will make a new home for them.

"When the time comes for the bats to return, we can put the droppings in the new roost and the returning bats will pick up the scent," said a council spokesman.

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I wonder if this would work for bat houses?

[L Roebuck]

It sounds like it might work for bat houses too. Our bat house remains unoccupied even though we have moved it to several different locations.

[Azurerana]

The bat experts say no. The occupied bat house residents say yes. Of course, you need to get the sort of poo of the bat you want to attract. No point in putting cat poo in bird houses, for example.
Also, the guano needs to be relatively fresh (and stinky) for it to work.