8/29/17

Go See a Bat Flyout!

We did something really, really cool recently.

(Mom, me, Trevor. Steve took the photo.)

It just so happens that we live about 30 miles from the largest colony of Mexican free-tailed bats in California. The bats spend the day snoozing under the Yolo Causeway....


... then at sunset, literally hundreds of thousands of bats pour out from under the bridge to hunt for insects.

 

The Yolo Basin Foundation hosts family-friendly Bat Talk and Walk events throughout the year. The 3-hour events start with an indoor lecture and up-close-and-personal time with bats. Then the group caravans through wetlands and rice fields to a spot that is closed to the public. Here is Corky Quirk ("The Bat Lady") sharing her vast amounts of knowledge about these fascinating mammals. 

 

We arrived about ten minutes before the first bat scouts emerged. And then, the first wave. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. The bats poured out like ribbons. 


There were thousands and thousands of bats. It was incredible. 


There were four distinct waves, with at least 50,000 bats in each group. I got video of part of one wave. The quality isn't great, but it gives you an idea of what we saw. 



I hope all of you get to see a bat flyout in person someday. In the meantime, I'll be sharing some bat crafts that were inspired by this amazing experience. 

4 comments:

  1. So cool!!! And IRONICALLY, we have been watching Guy Fieri's Family Road Trip on Food Network, and this week's episode had them visiting Texas and seeing the same species of bats coming out of a cave there!!!! How cool!!!!!!!!!

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  2. How awesome!!! I've never seen a "Bat Flyout" but been to a cave of bats, stinky ewww, and we see a few bats fly around our neighborhood at night and I always enjoy it... I think it's funny that bats have a bad connotation... I think they're cute!

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  3. We've been there to see them fly out too! When Breanna, my oldest was probably a year younger than Trevor is. She LOVED bats...Oh my goodness! Still does!! My mom came with us too. Ill never forget it actually, such a cool thing to experience!

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  4. I'm a fraidy cat so I'm not sure about this lol

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