(Fort Peck) – On August 12th Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will be holding a “Bat Walk” at the Downstream Campground in Fort Peck. Nicole Hussey the Non-Game Wildlife Biologist for FWP and host of the event talks about what will happen at the event.
“So, it’s something that we’ve been doing for the last few years and it really just like a cool educational event for all ages to come at the downstream Campground in Fort Peck. And it’s just going to be a little presentation from me just kind of talking about like the importance of bats and then luckily, it’s the perfect place to actually see bats at night and walk around and listen for them. We’ll break out some bat detectors so it’s really fun for kids and even adults really love them you know as bats are diving and forging around above our heads and I’ll have a couple iPads so when they start calling you can actually see those different frequency waves and different species have different waves that you can kind of get an idea of what bats are flying above us up ahead.”
She goes on to talk about what people should bring for the walk.
“Yeah, if people want to bring a flashlight or headlamp or even glow sticks are really fun. Cause we do it right before dark and then when we finish up it’s usually pretty dark so people want to be able to get back to their campsite or find where their kiddos have ran off to and then also bug spray it is pretty buggy down there which is great for bats but not great for us and then you have some sturdy walking shoes cause we will be walking around the path near the campground and stuff so just so you don’t stun your toe or anything like that.”
She also talks about if people need to register for the event.
“You don’t have to. You can just show up so it’ll be at the downstream campground at 8:30 p.m. there’s a little Amphitheater there and it free to anyone who wants to come you don’t have to be staying at the campground but if you do you can just walk on over and yeah, they’ll be plenty of seating and if not, we can grab some extra chairs and yeah it’s all outside.”
She also talks a bit about the history of the bat walk.
“I think this is the fourth year we’ve been doing it but hoping to keep it going. Potentially, next year, we could be doing it over by Haver as well.”
She finishes by talking about how people can help to see the Bat Walk come to Havre.
“It might just be a matter of talking with either Beavercreek Park or if there’s another campground or something like that where it’d be a great place for people to gather but then also a good spot maybe near the rivers where we can go out and look for bats. So, if people have ideas and they can definitely contact their office and let us know we’re always looking for good sites where we think it would be a good place for people to gather and a good place to find bats.”
(Update) The Bat Walk put on by FWP was rained out for their scheduled time on August 12th. Because of this the event has been rescheduled for August 18th.
