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What to Expect at a Bat Watch

bat watch -sign up begins May 29, 2012

       

You’ll see up to a million bats fly over your head and off into the twilight sky at a Selman Bat Watch.

one million bats flying
You’ll learn about and see these amazing mammals that travel 1400 miles each spring to give birth and raise their young in Oklahoma.

Begin your bat watch experience at Alabaster Caverns State Park – 30 miles northeast of Woodward, OK. How to get there. You will be conveyed to the bat-viewing area from there.

School day nostalgia creeps in as you board the school bus to the Selman Bat Cave Wildlife Management Area. The Wildlife Department manages the area, which is only open to the public during the Bat Watches.

people walking along a trail
Once there, take in the rolling sandsage prairie and white, gypsum bluffs. Discover new things about Oklahoma’s prairie during an optional short, 1⁄4-mile, nature walk led by biologists and trained volunteers.


Watch the setting sun against the vast, western Oklahoma sky as you wait comfortably in the viewing area. Get your cameras and binoculars ready – here come the bats.

For your safety, and to protect the bats, the cave will not be toured.

FREE STAR GAZING AFTER BAT WATCH


You're invited to spend an intimate evening under the stars at the University of Central Oklahoma's Selman Living Laboratory Observatory, weather permitting.

Learn about the constellations, immerse yourself in the splendor of star clusters, see where the center of our Galaxy lies, gasp at the beauty of binary stars, catch a view of the International Space Station, if it passes overhead, or step into the classroom to catch a program on recent astronomical discoveries. Telescopes and knowledgeable staff will be with you all evening.

   Aside from the trail and viewing areas, the bat-viewing site is in its natural state.

PLEASE CONSIDER:

  • There are no flush toilets, but there is a port-a-potty
  • There is no running water, but we provide drinking water
  • The nature trail is level, but not paved
  • No smoking, the area is a prairie and at a high fire risk
  • Rattlesnake encounters are possible
  • Children must be age 8 or older due to the length of the bat watch, minimal facilities and safety issues.