On today's This Week in Fish and Wildlife, we preview Bat Week at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. This is the 12th year for Montana’s first state park to honor its best-known but often most understood resident.
I talked to the park’s assistant manager Tom Forwood, who started Bat Week 12 years ago. He says there are a lot of misinformation surrounding bats, and he hopes Bat Week can help clear up some of them.
Every evening that week at 8 p.m., there will be a campground talk or walk for visitors that will focus on many different aspects of bats. While visitors wait for a tour, park staff will also have interactive bat programs happening on the porch of the park’s visitor center.
Bat Week at the Caverns will include these presentations, some of which will be followed by bat-spotting walks:
- Sunday, Aug. 8: The Misunderstood Bat, by Tom Forwood
- Monday, Aug. 9: Bat Mythology, by Emily Dickerson
- Tuesday, Aug. 10: River Bat Walk
- Wednesday, Aug. 11: The Mystique of the Night, by Aubrey Enderle
- Thursday, Aug. 12: Midnight Flight, by Zack Story
- Friday, Aug. 13: The Mysterious Montana Bat Walk, by Matt Bell
- Saturday, Aug. 14: The Evolution of Bats, by Ramona Radonich
Anyone wanting more information about Bat Week activities or the Caverns, in general, can call 406-287-3541.
