Up close and personal with Carlsbad Cavern's bats

DeJanay Booth | Carlsbad Current-Argus

Show Caption Hide Caption Bats like to talk... a lot If there was a Facebook for animals, Bats would be all about it.

The bat flight program at Carlsbad Caverns National Park attracts about 1,000 people during its peak summer season.

"People want to see the bats, and lots of visitors come here because of the bats," said park spokeswoman Valerie Gohlke.

The free program opens during Memorial Day weekend and runs through the Labor Day weekend.

Gohlke said visitors are most likely to get a glimpse of Brazilian free-tailed bats, which weigh 13 grams with an 11-inch wingspan, when the sun sets. However, fringed myotis and cave myotis bats also live in the caverns.

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The bats aren't always on time, though, and rangers spend anywhere from two minutes to an hour speaking with visitors about the species before the bats begin their nightly flight.

Gohlke, who has led bat flight programs, said she enjoys sharing information about the animals with visitors.

"It's awe inspiring to watch the bats," she said.

Steve West, who conducts a bird banding program at the caverns every Friday evening, said he and other volunteers are in the caves when the bats typically fly out, which he said is a great experience.

"We see the bats up close," West said. "It's a great program."

Gohlke said park visitors can still come watch the bats even when no formal ranger program is given, like during April, September and October.

The National Park Service highly recommends visitors attend the program between August and September because bat pups, which are born during the early summer, will fly along with the adults.

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On July 15, visitors can watch the bats return to the cave after a night of feeding in a special event in the early morning. The bats are expected to arrive at about 5:30 a.m. A nature walk is scheduled between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m.

Bat-themed activities will follow in the Visitors Center from 8 a.m. to noon.

The bat flight program is a on first-come-first-serve basis in the park's amphitheater and begins at about 7:45 p.m. every day.

For information on the program and times, call 575-236-1374.

DeJanay Booth can be reached at 575-628-5546, dbooth@currentargus.com and @DeJanayBooth on Twitter.