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| Illustration copyright Susan Detwiler |
"The end of summer is near. Crickets are singing their evening song. Deep in a cave, a Brazilian free-tailed bat pup wakes up and flexes her wings. She has been roosting all day and now she's hungry. She's not the only one. Soon huge clouds of small, dark, winged bodies whirl through the sky. The bats are hunting for moths, beetles, and other insects. For the first time in her life, the new pup joins her mother to look for food. In the fall, she and the rest of her colony will be on the move, migrating south for the winter." ~ On the Move: Mass Migrations by Scotti Cohn
Below I'll give you some places where you can see lots of bats and learn more about bats. But first, here are some photos I took at Safari Park in San Diego, California:
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| Safari Park, San Diego CA (photo by Scotti Cohn) |
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| Safari Park, San Diego CA (photo by Scotti Cohn) |
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| Safari Park, San Diego CA (photo by Scotti Cohn) |
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| Safari Park, San Diego CA (photo by Scotti Cohn) |
In North America, one place to see huge numbers of bats is
_Carlsbad Caverns_ in New Mexico:
"The best bat flights normally occur in July and August. At this time baby bats, born in early summer, join the flight along with migrating bats from colonies further north."
Also, be sure to check out the
_Congress Avenue Bridge_ in Austin, Texas:
"Late July through mid-August is the best time to see impressive flights, as new born pups first begin to forage with their mothers."
And here are a few more links you might want to visit to learn more about bat migration:
