Bat Festival! What's That?



Button says "Bats need friends"



Don't you want to hang out with this little guy?



This August, I attended the 6^th Annual Bat Festival. Every time I wear my festival t-shirt I get  “A Bat Festival! What’s that?” This event is held in Custer State Park every year and put on by the South Dakota Bat Working Group. I had the distinct pleasure of helping people of all ages, from two years old to youngsters in their 80s, assemble foam bats. They are super cool!




Bats exiting the bathouse
Photo by Nick Altadonna



This event is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about bats. There is a wonderful  presentation that includes a catchy little song about echolocation. My kids have been singing it ever since. The yummy bat cookies also made the trip worthwhile.  The highlight of the event was witnessing over 100 bats exit from the bat house at the campground. We were even able to hear the bats with the use of bat detectors.  



 The SDBWG is involved in many educational efforts. As part of that effort, our school  received a set of twelve wonderful nonfiction books from the South Dakota Bat Working Group Books for Schools Program.



To learn more about the South Dakota Bat Working Group, please visit http://sdbwg.org/. You can also sign up for Echoes, an e-newsletter devoted to bat issues in South Dakota. Subscriptions are free- just email joeltigner@gmail.com.

One section of the newsletter is devoted to poems and artwork related to bats. If you have submissions for future editions, please send them to me at Cary.Roller@k12.sd.us. You may also send them to me through snail mail, C/O Knollwood Elementary, 1701 Downing Street, Rapid City, SD 57701. Please state how you would like to be published (for example, first name and school or first and last name). We can only accept original pieces of work, not work copyrighted by someone else.





Long-eared Myotis

photo by Joel Tigner