As the weather cools down and evenings turn crisp enough for sweaters, our bats are feeling the chill too. Without their own cozy knits to keep them warm, they’re heading south for the season.

Thanks to our resident wild bats, our volunteers and thousands of attendees, this year’s Going Batty was our biggest success yet! Over 6,200 campers and visitors came to the program this year, raising over $4,800 for the nature center. Due to the warmer weather this autumn, the bats seemed to stay a little longer and we were able to run the program until November 1st.

Our new docents, John and Ashley, stepped up to the plate and expanded the program significantly, offering shows on Thursday nights in addition to our regular Friday and Saturday evening slots. As professional tour guides and comedians, they made the show extra entertaining, adding in hilarious jokes and showing the audience pictures of the world’s largest bats (including a Louisville Slugger) on their iPad. They went above and beyond by promoting the program throughout the campgrounds via golf cart and announcing our special activities over the loudspeaker for all to hear. We extend our heartfelt thanks to John and Ashley, as well as to our volunteer docents Colin and Paula who also helped run the program.

This year, we counted over 200 bats in our first box and over 170 in the second one. That’s down from last year’s counts of over 270 in the first bat box and over 200 in the second. We count the bats using a tally counter as they leave the boxes. It’s relatively easy, as they typically leave the box one at a time, but it’s not a perfect method, so we don’t have an exact count.

A small number of bats have made their home in a crack in the roof of our workshop building next to the bat boxes, though we have not yet confirmed whether these are the same California Myotis species. More research is needed. Additionally, another colony of bats has taken up residence in the roof of the campground bathroom not far from the nature center. It’s possible that the bat boxes were becoming overcrowded, prompting the colony to spread out to new locations.

Even though the Going Batty program has concluded, our native garden is always open, and you can still visit the bat boxes after sunset to see if you can observe any of the last bat stragglers who haven’t migrated south yet. Our bat boxes typically seem to be empty by January.

We’ll see you back in May 2026 for more “Going Batty”! In the meantime, our indoor bat exhibits will remain on display in the Neal Taylor Nature Center year-round, so stop by and learn about the wonderful world of bats! We are open Thursdays through Saturdays from 10am to 4pm and Sundays from 10am to 2pm. Admission is by donation.