Bats live in Florida all year but many people associate them with festivities in October. As someone who has studied bat ecology for years and enjoys educating others about bat conservation, this is a busy time of year! There are two opportunities to learn about bats coming soon.

The 19th annual Florida Bat Festival is on Saturday, October 21st, from 10am-5pm at the Lubee Bat Conservancy in Gainesville, FL. The Festival is a wonderful way to celebrate and spread bat conservation awareness while enjoying lots of fun festivities! This is one of the few opportunities to visit the giant fruit bats at Lubee. I will be hosting a UF/IFAS Wildlife Ecology & Conservation table at the festival. Lots of other educational tables will be there, including my colleagues from the Florida Bat Working Group and the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network.  See the Lubee event webpage for details.

Another batty time will be on Friday, October 27th during the UF Field & Fork Farm and Gardens Fall Open House. Starting at 4:30pm, this is chance to learn more about the gardens AND I will be there to chat about the giant bat houses and our resident campus colony! The open house ends around 6pm, but the bat table will stay up until sunset at 7pm, just before the bat emergence starts.

The UF Bat Houses are located at 2656 Museum Drive, Gainesville FL 32611 (Building 503), on the north side of Museum Drive, across from Lake Alice. Parking is available at the lot just west of the fields.

For more information on bats in Florida visit Ask IFAS-Bats or the Florida Bat Working Group.

1