a lot of people think a bat box should go into an old, cobwebbed barn and that that s where bats would prefer to live, but actually, you can put a bat box almost anywhere, as long as it is away from high wind, it s away from artificial light and it s away from predators like cats, so it s completely out of reach. if you start looking at the outside space as notjust yours, but a place for flora and fauna, i think we can start reversing this whole decline that so many of our native species are experiencing. some international news at the top of the some international news at the top of the hour some international news at the top
for now, he s made his home in this purpose built bat box, given to him by the bat conservation trust. they look after the interests of these shy, mysterious creatures which are often vilified and who are actually in great danger. in fact, one third of our native bat species are now at risk of extinction. they are incredibly sweet little creatures. i think a lot of people, i d hazard a guess most people have never even seen a bat. i ve never seen a bat. the headline is that they re flying rats, but they re much more beautiful and delicate than that. if you look at their beautiful wings and you look at their incredible faces and then you start to learn how they actually echolocate and how they move around and how they feed, they re obviously nocturnal, so we simply don t see them in this country. so i think there is a great mystery in that. but we can help them by making our own bat boxes, simple dwellings to keep them safe and crucially, in the dark.