The Wrack

We had lots of cuties here on Tuesday for our monthly public Preschool Story Hour, featuring Brian Lies' Bats on the Beach. After a reading of the story, the group delved into a bat cookie cutter painting activity and then hit the trails for nature exploration and a bat and mosquito scavenger hunt. Did you know that a little brown bat eats up to 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour? Thank you, bats! You are the be…

This past Saturday evening, over 20 community members participated in the "Bats: Friends of the Evening Sky" program offered in partnership with the Center for Wildlife. We all learned about the many myths surrounding bats and the real truths (they don't fly into human hair, there are only 3 species of vampire bats among the over 1,200 species of bats worldwide, and vampire bats do not live in the United States—they live in tropical climates and prey primarily on livestock).

We were amazed to learn, too, that Maine's insectivorous bats eat 1,000 mosquitoes in a single night! The next time a mosquito bites you, think of all the mosquito control bats provide us!

Charles, Mark, and Frank installed seven bat houses within four of the Reserve's fields today, in an effort to provide habitat for the local population of these insectivorous flying mammals who eat up to 1,000 insects per hour. Below are pictures taken during one of the installations. We are hoping that bats will move in to this new real estate in the spring!