Installation of the roofs and attics

The installation of the roofs and attics is also approached under the angle of the improvement of the Biodiversité in the frame and the garden. He proposes some possible adjustments of the house and the structures in general built (here roofs, bell-towers of the churches, etc) in order to accommodate the most important possible biodiversity there. In the buildings, the roof S and the Grenier S are often the least attended places and most favourable with night fauna. By boring access roads or while placing artificial nests, it is possible to support certain species like the barn owl or of many species of bat.

Such an installation, why?

The erosion of the biodiversity

See also: is Biodiversité#La biodiversity threatened?

Predatory of insects and rodents

At the same time as the phenomenon of erosion of the biodiversity, one attends an explosion of manpower of certain species (certain insects of which mosquitos, rats, pigeons,…). Become resistant to the plant health products for some, benefitting from the abundance of food which the urban area and its dustbins for others offer, the man is today vis-a-vis his contradictions, it will have to find other answers more bearable than those which it used until now. To support the return of predatory downtown belongs to the possible solutions.

Each night of hunting, a bat consumes about half of its weight in insects. It takes the night relay of the swallows, trip hammers, flycatcher, warblers,… In one year, a couple of frighten capture an average of 3 000 preys. Mulots, mice, rats, shrews…

The hosts of the roofs and bell-towers are predatory the particularly active ones in the close environment. Their presence in the middle of the cities and the villages is an asset for the maintenance of a biological balance upset so much by the human activities.

Hosts

Bats

See also: Chiroptera

Most of the species of bats is threatened of extinction. The causes of their decline are multiple. One can quote, inter alia, the destruction of the night Environnement by the luminous Pollution, the massive and déraisonnée use of the plant health products. The rarefaction of the lodgings of reproduction and hibernation is also responsible for the decline of the populations of bats.

Their protection thus passes necessarily by the installation of the roofs to offer the lodgings to them of which they have need to ensure the good progress of their biological cycles. However the bats are very fragile mammals. They are very sensitive to the disturbances and the disturbances of their habitat (noise, light, odor, modification of the access, presence of predatory: cat, long pitchfork, barn owl,…)

The barn owl

See also: Frightens bell-towers

The barn owl is also a fragile animal. The leading causes of mortality are the collisions (roads and railroads) but also the accidents with the electric lines (collision and electrocution). The population of the barn owl is variable but depends primarily on food and the lodgings available. An effort of conservation, protection and restoration of the lodgings can be made. The choice of the lodging is conditioned by its cavernicolous character (dark or obscure). The barn owl does not support the cold (snow and cold ground), moisture and the wind.

Other species to be protected

See also: Jackdaw

The jackdaw have few natural enemies. One could however witness a significant rarefaction of the populations with more or less term, because of the disappearance of the lodgings of reproduction. The jackdaw can cohabit perfectly with the bats. They can however pose some problems in particular in the bell-towers. Indeed, the jackdaw brings a quantity of materials to make its nest which can prove to be dangerous for the mechanical and electric equipment. One will be able to limit their access inside the bell-tower and to compensate by the installation of nesting boxes outside. This live bird in colony, one will be able to install several nesting boxes.

See also: black Trip hammer

The black trip hammer is legally protected. Currently, manpower appear stable, but one can envisage a reduction in the populations in the more or less long term because of the rarefaction of the lodgings of nesting. An special attention must thus be carried to the already existing colonies. One will be able for example to avoid modifying the structure of the roof where the trip hammers are established, to avoid the introduction of the barn owl, to preserve to the maximum the darkness of the roofs, which will enable them not to remain trapped inside.

Installations

The first thing to recall is that in all the cases, it is preferable to preserve the natural habitats animals (natural underground medium, forest, zones of nourrissage).

Things to be avoided

  • treatment of the frames

  • the illumination of the building

Harmful effects

See also: Nesting box

  • the noise

  • the dejections
  • the urine
  • the odor

It should be recalled that all these species are legally protected. Consequently, the law of July 10th, 1976 and its decree of application of April 17th, 1981 envisage the prohibition of:

  • destruction or the removal of eggs or the nests, the mutilation, destruction, the capture or removal, the naturalization of animals of these species or, that they alive or died, their transport, their hawking, their use, their setting on sale, their sale or their purchase;
  • destruction, the deterioration or the degradation of the medium particular to these animal species.

One is thus in the legal requirement compose with this wildlife.

To limit the harmful effects (excrement in particular), there exist various devices making it possible to improve the cohabitation. In a general way, in the event of problem of cohabitation with the wildlife, one can always call upon local associations of protection of nature which will be able to intervene if necessary.

Hosts to be avoided

By accommodating certain species, the risk is to shelter of them others whose presence is incompatible with the lodging in itself or with the presence of the chiroptères.

The Pigeon S ( Columba livia )

The pigeons represent a real problem for the bell-towers (they colonize less the roofs). Turned over at the wild state, they settle there and probably because of the abundance of food in the neighborhoods, they proliferate there. Quickly, the beams and the floors are covered with a thick carpet of droppings frays of feathers. The presence of the bird is then detrimental for the building (rotting of the woodworks) and for the mechanical and electric installations. Moreover, they prevent the colonization of the bell-tower by the bats and even by the barn owl. For the moment, the only effective means to fight against the installation of the pigeons are to pose lattices comprising of the selective passages for the bats on the louvers and other openings. Netting must adopt the shape of the louvers perfectly; without that, the pigeons manage to nest between the boards. One can also pose compensatory devices for frightens. However, accustomed to place in the bell-tower, the pigeons are likely to settle outside and to damage the frontages. One will be able to thus envisage devices to prevent them from nesting outside.

The Long pitchfork ( Martes foina )

The long pitchfork is an obstacle with the colonization of the site by the bats. However, it remains an essential animal for the regulation of the populations of rodents (mouse, etc) To hold the remote long pitchfork of the roofs and attics, it will be necessary to take care particularly of the access. The long pitchfork, very skilful, can use the climbing plants or the gutters to reach the lodgings. It is also able to climb on the walls in rough coats.

Here some measurements allowing to keep the long pitchforks outside:

  • not to let the vegetation climb to the roofs
  • To put stoppings (tin collar) or funnels on the gutters
  • On the walls in rough coats (at the time of a restoration), one will be able to spare a smooth band of 70 cm under the cornice
  • Boucher the holes of access of the long pitchfork, it generally always uses the same route
  • moderate Utilization ``'' the repulsive ones (naphthaline, fuel oil). These repulsive can also move away the chiroptères if the odor is too important.

The operations to make the accesses impracticable could be made after the twilight exit, in November or October, to avoid blocking a young person with the nest. In order to compensate for the loss of a lodging for the long pitchforks, one will be able to arrange a “long pitchfork box” in the vicinity (in a wood pile, the barn, on the main beams of a lean-to building,…). For that, one furnishes a box out of wooden with straw and one has with the entry eggs or some fruits.

Management of the site

In order to ensure the perenniality of the lodgings for the bats and the owls frighten, it is necessary that the follow-up is with the height of the authorized investment. A double management, technique and scientist can be considered. From the technical point of view, one will be able to take care of the good performance of the installations and to carry out their repair so necessary. The cleaning of the dejections can be done all one or two years according to their quantity. The nesting boxes for frightens could be cleaned, those of the jackdaw and of the trip hammers do not have to be cleaned. All these maintenance actions will be carried out preferably for wintry time, after the departure of the animals (in January ideally). Scientific management, as for it, will make it possible to widen knowledge on these two species, in particular on the aspects of conservation and installations of sites for the bats still badly known. One will be able to contact local associations of protection of nature to carry out this follow-up.

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