Get Batty About Tahoe Bats

No summer checklist is complete without going bat-watching! These misunderstood flying mammals are amazing ecological heroes; they use echolocation to consume 500 to 1,200 mosquito-sized insects per hour (perhaps up to 4,000-8,000 insects per night)!

Let's also bust some myths on our batty friends: they don't all carry rabies; get trapped in people's hairs; aren't rodents; and aren't blind.

If you want to see lots of bats around Tahoe, focus on water shortly after sunset. Most bats like to take a drink when they wake up for the evening. “There are very few spots around Lake Tahoe that get really batty,” says Will Richardson, Executive Director of TINS. “There is one really good spot near the Tahoe City Marina where you can watch an evening emergence every night during summer. It’s best during July and August.”

Anywhere there is water and an open sky will work; that’s where the bats will find their food source. The McCarran Bridge in Reno during sunset is great for bat-watching. It has a similar effect as the South Congress Bridge in Texas to a lesser degree. All the bats take off at the same time so you’ll see a colony of them.

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For the educators:

TINS offers hour-long lectures on bats (as well as other species, fire, winter topics, and more); just contact them. They also offer in-school programs primarily for third and fourth graders but are suitable for any age. Anywhere there's water really and open sky -- that's where they find their food source. McCarran Bridge in Reno is best in summertime during sunset. Birds, bats, fire, winter stuff TINS

Source: TINS, Sierra Sun and Tahoe Daily Tribune