Canning Men’s Shed gets batty idea for controlling mozzies

Mr Buchanan, who lives in Shelley, said he was asked to build a roosting box for bats for his granddaughter’s primary school.

“From then, my interested in micro-bats began,” he said.

Mr Buchanan has since built scores of the boxes for his local community.

He said micro-bats lived in a 5km radius of water sources, such as ponds, lakes and rivers, and were a natural way to control mosquitoes and other insects.

Mr Buchanan encouraged people who live near a water source to install a bat box in their garden.

“A single bat can eat up to 1200 mosquitoes per hour,” he said.

Bat boxes cost $25 and can be purchased from the Canning Men’s Shed by emailing canningmensshedsecretary@gmail.com or calling Mr Buchanan on 0418 504 261.

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