Going Batty

Saturday Evening June 17th thru July 8th

Program begins at: 8:20PM*  

*Please meet in front of the Nature Center*

Do not disturb the bats prematurely

This is a living exhibit!  Meet in front of the Nature Center for a Docent led talk and Q&A.

After learning about the local bats, we’ll move to the Native Garden to watch as the bats drop out of the bat boxes to feed. 

Admission:  Donation

History of Bat Box and Resident Bats

at the Neal Taylor Nature Center

The Bat Box (about 3 feet by 1 ½ feet) was designed, built, and erected in October 2013 by Nature Center volunteer Michael Marlow.  It is suspended between two poles 16 feet off the ground.  It is located behind the garage of the Nature Center in the Nature Center’s Native Garden. Michael built a second Bat “Condo” 5 years later to accommodate our expanding bat population. This 2^nd bat box can be viewed at the Southeast end of the Nature Center’s Native Garden.

Guano under the Bat Box accumulated over time, and it is important to not go near the guano. 

Paul Collins biologist with the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum has completed a two-year research project on bats.  Paul identified these bats as Myotis Californicus, which are considered micro bats.

On 9/28/15 – 272 bats were counted flying out of the box at dusk and on 5/10/16 – 238 bats were counted flying out at dusk. The bat population since then has continued to expand.