Tuesday, 25 August 2026

Ballan Men’s Shed Goes To Bat For Local Wildlife

The Ballan Men’s Shed has lent its skills to a fascinating local conservation project, partnering with the Moorabool Catchment Landcare Group to help protect and monitor the bat population in their region.

As the Landcare group puts it, the shed is happy to be a small but important part of this local project, and what a project it is.

The Moorabool Catchment Landcare Group has been working alongside Federation University to deploy ultrasonic acoustic monitors across the region to record and study local bat species. The monitors capture sounds at frequencies above 20,000Hz, well beyond the range of the human ear, allowing researchers to identify bat species and better understand what habitat conditions they rely on. Data collected will include the presence of hollow bearing trees, canopy health, canopy cover and fruit bearing trees, building up a rich dataset that Federation University students will be able to draw on for years to come.

This is where the Ballan Men’s Shed comes in. The shedders have been busy producing bat boxes, which create instant habitat for bats who would otherwise rely on tree hollows to nest in. The catch? Tree hollows take around 80 years to form naturally.

Bat boxes are a practical and immediate solution to a very real conservation challenge, and the shed has embraced the project wholeheartedly. Bat boxes will be made available to local landholders in Spring, with monitoring set to begin in September once the warmer weather brings more bat activity to the region. It is a wonderful example of a men’s shed using its practical skills to make a genuine contribution to the natural environment of the community it calls home. Well done to the shedders at Ballan Men’s Shed!