Strzaliny koło Tuczna Nature Reserve

The Strzaliny koło Tuczna reserve protects a bat hibernation site in the remains of a fortified group of the Pomeranian Wall, hidden inside Gallows Hill (Góra Wisielcza). It lies in Tuczno municipality, in Wałcz County.

The bunker in Gallows Hill

The underground fortification was built in the 1930s, and its passages total 800 m. After the Second World War the bunker was blown up, and today only a small part of it is accessible. Gallows Hill reaches 151 m above sea level. The reserve, with an area of 17.83 ha, established in 2008, covers the underground and surface parts together with the surrounding forest.

Bats

It is the fourth largest known bat hibernation site in Poland. The animals enter the underground through ventilation shafts and stay there from the second half of September to the end of April. Every year since 1997 the bats have been counted here by the Polish Society for the Protection of Nature “Salamandra”: in the first year 700 individuals were counted, in 2000 895. Four protected species hibernate here, and Bechstein's bat is sometimes seen, for which this is the northernmost site in Poland.

The surface part has a distinctive feature of its own: 38 species of bryophytes occur on it, especially lime-loving and rock-dwelling ones, atypical of a lowland landscape. The nearest of the described sites is the church in Strzaliny, about 800 m from the reserve.

Practical information

• Location: south-east of Strzaliny, about 4.5 km east-south-east of Tuczno.
• The entry on the reserve mentions a planned ban on entry from 15 September to 15 April and limited tourist traffic outside that period.
• The current rules of entry to the bunker and the reserve are given by the manager, that is the Tuczno Forest District, and the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Szczecin. Check them before your visit.