YOLO COUNTY – This time of year, over 250,000 bats live beneath the Yolo Causeway.
It is an impressive sight when the colony, which consists mainly of pregnant or lactating females, sets out for dinner every evening.
“I call it a ribbon when they come out. Some people call it a cloud,” said Corky Quirk, program coordinator for the Yolo Basin Foundation.
Spectators and those waiting at Friday night’s sold-out show were part of a Bat Talk and Tour, a group of about 70 people who couldn’t wait to see the bats fly.
Every night around sunset you can see thousands of bats circling in the sky. It’s like ringing the bat bell at the insect buffet.
“It’s beautiful and amazing. I love nature,” said one woman on the tour.
Quirk’s mission at the Yolo Basin Foundation is to change people’s perceptions of these tiny creatures.
“I think the main reason we fear nocturnal animals is because we often don’t have the opportunity to learn about them,” Quirk said.
The foundation welcomes about 4,000 people each summer for its tours. Tours begin with a short lesson about bats in the classroom and even offer visitors the chance to meet a bat up close.
“Once they meet the bat, the living ambassador bat, I see their minds changing,” Quirk said. “Bats are incredibly important and not dangerous.”
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The dam is primarily home to the Mexican bulldog bat. The migratory colony is the largest in the state of California.
Bats save farmers across the country billions of dollars each year by eating insects that damage crops. They even feed on nuisance insects like mosquitoes.
“So these guys are super helpful,” Quirk said.
But why are they hiding under the dam and not in a cave or a tree? Quirk says that firstly, human development has led to a loss of habitat over the years, and secondly, the climate of the dam is very attractive to the bats.
“The temperature is good, the black asphalt absorbs the heat, the cement keeps the heat stable. These cracks are damn deep, so there are almost no predators,” Quirk said.
Next time you’re driving along the Beltway at sunset, watch for the animals crawling out of the sky.
The Bat Talk and Tour runs weekly through September. Tickets are just $15 for adults and $5 for children ages 6 to 17. Children under 5 are free.
