Saturday, August 6, 2011

Cosumnes River Bat Spectacular

We went to the Cosumnes River Preserve for a potluck and bat presentation. We saw live adult bats. They are so tiny! The presentation dispelled many myths about bats. They don't nest in your hair, so when Bruce touched my head while thousands of bats were flying over I felt like a bat flew into my hair even though I know that would be very unusual.

Bats like to live under bridges during the day and then fly out at sunset. We waited until the sun was sinking as the evening light twinkled over the river. Then suddenly thousands of tiny bats like a swarm of ants flew across the sky. The preserve just south of Sacramento has about 40,000 bats as regular inhabitants. They eat their weight in bugs and help control mosquitos and other bugs.

We didn't join the Kayak Tour since I didn't want to kayak down the river after dark (I don't think Bruce did either.) We'll have our daylight kayaking next weekend. We took a walk along the river and watched the kayakers and hawks. A cool breeze, Mt. Diablo at sunset, and a bat fly over. Great evening!