How to Go Bat-Watching: You can spot bats almost anywhere you go, if you know how to look...

[Michie]

If you spend a lot of time outdoors at night in the summer, you might be used to seeing shaky, silhouetted creatures flitting above. Maybe you’ve stopped to watch them skim over your garden at twilight, or you’ve caught them while you’re camping near a lake, or you just sense a brief flash of movement outside your window. Birdwatching is great, but bat-watching is another world entirely.



Anybody can learn how to bat-watch, according to Merlin Tuttle and Teresa Nichta, cofounders of the nonprofit Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation (MTBC) in Austin, Texas. And given the adaptability of these flying mammals, it’s quite likely there will be bats wherever you are. Tuttle has over 60 years of experience in the field and is considered one of the fathers of bat conservation in North America. Nichta is the organization’s outreach and archive manager which includes MTBC’s enormous photographic collection. Together, they offered Atlas Obscura some tips on how to get started.

Know What to Look For

Continued below.

How to Go Bat-Watching

Once the sun goes down, these furry fliers get active. You can spot them almost anywhere you go, if you know how to look.

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[Occams Barber]

I have a love/hate relationship with bats.

I used to have a large mud brick, pole frame house I built in the bush. The bats loved the high ceilings and came to live with us. Great until they started roosting over the bed.

We also had frequent invasions of flying foxes which travel in huge colonies and roosted in hundreds in the trees around the house, The stink was eye watering.

These days the bats roost on the power line above where I park my car. My car is regularly showered with bat crap.

Apart from that - I love the little buggers.

OB