Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Saved from the ash heap of history for the bat shelters of Brno.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic. Soviet-era TV sets, known for bad reception and low picture quality, are finally popular -- as homes for bats.Let no one say no good ever came from Communism.
A group of disabled workers in the southeastern Czech Republic produces bat boxes from the Rubin TV sets' sturdy plywood casing, which is hard to break and easily resists bad weather.
"The TVs had two outstanding features: an extremely bad picture and extremely solid plywood casing," said Mojmir Vlasin, an environmentalist whose company disassembles old TV sets....
Vlasin said about 50 boxes made of the TV sets ... have been placed in the woods near the city of Brno, 200 kilometers (125 miles) southeast of Prague. Each box accommodates up to several dozen bats, depending on their size, Vlasin said. [AP]
