Going Batty
The Yolo Basin Foundation has a bat walk and talk series. On ten separate evenings between the end of May and beginning of September, they offer the Bat Walk and Talk. A slideshow presentation begins the evening. A bat specialist offers interesting information on the different species of bats as well as some bat myths and truisms. For example, did you know the bat is more closely related to a cow than it is a mouse? Kind of funny. Two bats who are unable to return to the wild were available to see close up. After the 45-minute presentation we were off to the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area.
The Yolo Causeway is a 3.2 mile stretch of highway that is elevated over a floodplain. It connects the cities of Sacramento and Davis. Within the crevices of the highway live one of the largest colonies of Mexican free-tailed bats in California. Its no wonder they do so well here. Bats must eat lots of insects each night for their survival and this floodplain, where rice is grown during the summer, is practically a mosquito buffet. When its time to eat, the bats all leave the crevice at the same time. They fly under the causeway until they reach a designated spot near a large tree, then fly out from under the causeway as if this tree was a cave opening. The effect is like watching a ribbon of bats stream out from the freeway into the sky. I’ve never seen anything like it. Each of the ten evenings that you can watch this with a guide are sold out for this year. We were lucky that someone in our family who planned early gave us tickets to go with them. Its definitely worth putting on your calendar to sign up for next year. Don’t forget your jacket and bring along some bug spray.
Oooo, that’s so cool. Thanks for posting about it.