The Problem
"The Battle for the Bats... providing habitats by building bat houses" After learning about bats in our area and the importance of bat conservation, the students viewed the USDA Forest Service "Battle For Bats: Surviving White-nose Syndrome" video. In the video we learned that we can help bats by providing habitat and surveying populations. The students in the MAGIC afterschool program will build bat houses to be placed at the Blue Heart Sanctuary, a non-profit animal sanctuary in our area. Bats are important for pest control, for pollinating and for spreading seeds. According the Bat Conservation International, white-nose syndrome is a fungal disease that has killed millions of bats in North America. In our area of Western North Carolina, there are confirmed cases of this disease. We would like to help bats by building bats houses to provide them with habitats. The students have already learned about bats and watched the video on White-nose syndrome. We have yet to purchase the materials to build the bat houses and we would use the funds from this mini-grant to purchase the supplies that we need. We would like to build at least 5 bat houses. In addition to houses being placed at the 40 acre Blue Heart Sanctuary, we would like to see if the local Dig-in Community garden would agree to having a bat house installed at their location. If awarded the funds, we would purchase the necessary supplies within 1 week. The staff and MAGIC students would have at least 1 hour per day, 3 days per week to build the houses. If needed, we would extend the building time 1 more week. After construction, we will present the finished houses to the Blue Heart Sanctuary and hopefully the Dig-In Community Garden. We will arrange a field trip so the students can be present for the installation of the houses.
