Eighth Annual Bat Festival Flying into Milwaukee County Zoo

By: Wild Birds Unlimited | 9 Shares 151 Reads

July 29, 2009 // Franchising.com // BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICHIGAN – On August 28th and 29th the Milwaukee County Zoo will host the Eighth Annual Great Lakes Bat Festival, presented by the Organization for Bat Conservation, sponsored by Batcone. The festival is free for all ages with any zoo admission.

The event starts Friday night at 7PM with a "Bat Encounter" presentation by bat expert Rob Mies, Director of the Organization for Bat Conservation. Attendees will learn how to attract bats to their backyard. On display will be the world's largest bat, a Malayan Flying Fox, which is a fruit-eating bat with a six foot wingspan. Saturday's events begin at 9AM in the Katz Conservation Education Center and will feature leading bat experts including: Dave Redell (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources)
Dr. Al Kurta (Eastern Michigan University)
Kim Williams (Organization for Bat Conservation)
Dr. Tim Carter (Ball State University)
Rhonda Crenshaw (Milwaukee County Zoo)
Bill Scullon (Michigan Department of Natural Resources)
Rod Foster (Stevenson High School)
Mike Frayer (Milwaukee County Zoo)

Presentations and programs will include, benefits of bat houses, bat research, bat conservation, public health and will feature a live bat program by the Organization for Bat Conservation. Bats on display include Small Great Lakes Insect-eating Bats and Large Flying Fox Bats from Africa.

The day will wind down with a family-style barbeque on the zoo grounds from 5PM to 7PM, followed by a Bat Science Night from 7PM to 9PM. During the Bat Science Night presentation, experienced bat researchers will demonstrate different bat research methods such as bat netting, radio-tagging and using bat detectors and light tagging. The Organization for Bat Conservation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of bats and their habit through ecological research, educational programs, and collaborative conservation efforts. The Organization has the largest grass-roots bat conservation educational project in the United States. Each year, over 250,000 people attend a live bat program or visit the Bat Zone at Cranbrook Institute of Science. Collaborative conservation projects include research in North America, protection on Mauritius Island, education on the Island of Rodrigues, and teacher training in Malaysia.

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