Why Bats?
It’s almost Halloween and while many of you will be parading around town with your kids dressed up like ghouls and goblins and others will have taken to doling out candy to the little trick or treaters, I urge you to consider adding something else to your Halloween routine.
Bats.
That’s right. Halloween is a great time to not only educate yourself about bats, but to spread that knowledge around to members of your community. Fortunately, there are resources available out there to help you.
My all time favourite place to go for this kind of stuff. This year, they’ve started a campaign to help raise awareness about white nose syndrome, a disease affecting bat colonies across the country. In addition, they have easy ways that you and your community can help out:
- Information about bat boxes
- Get a box
- Build and install a box
- How to register your box
- How to report bat sightings at your bat box
- How to find other bat boxes across the country
This site is an excellent tool that kids can explore the website on their own or with your help. I really enjoy the Bat Myths section that should dispel some concerning issues you have with these tiny mammals.
This page has a whole lot of information. Everything from diet to migration and everything in between. Be sure to click on the sound clip so you can hear a bat and watch the video to learn about bats across North America.
Bat Conservation International
If you want to get really serious about bats, check out Bat Conservation International. Their website is geared to kids and adults alike and is just full of information. Learn about their work around the world and why bat research and conservation is so important.
First and foremost, be safe this Halloween. A close second, though: up your bat knowledge and think about how you can bring bats to your community.