Bat festival
Encyclopedia
The Great Lakes Bat Festival is an annual two-day summer event that started in 2002.1 It has been held at the Cranbrook Institute of Science Bat Zone in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
2, at the Indiana State University
Center for North American Bat Research and Conservation in Terre Haute, Indiana
3, at the Milwaukee County Zoo
in Milwaukee, WI4, and in Iron Mountain, Michigan
near Millie Hill Mine5.
The goal of the Great Lakes Bat Festival is to bring attention to the diversity
of life on earth, teach people about the importance of bat
s, explain the need for conservation, and give people the tools to make a positive change in their local environment. The festival includes live bat programs presented by the Organization for Bat Conservation
featuring bats from around the world, including North America
n insect-eating bats, South America
n leaf-nosed bat
s, and giant Asian fruit bat
s!
Events and Highlights of the Great Lakes Bat Festival include: Great Lakes Region
expert presentations about the benefits of bats, bat houses, bat research, bat conservation, public health
, endangered species
, and much more. The festival has hosted films, authors, bat house and bat detector
building workshops, educational exhibits, mine tours, children’s activities, and live animal programs.
Evening events include, bat researchers erecting a mist net to catch local bats. Bat detection devices, research techniques, radio-tagging and/or light-tagging is demonstrated6.
Special Guests and Speakers include:
Jannell Cannon
7 (Artist & Author of award-winning book Stellaluna
), Fiona Reid (Artist & Author), Bill Schutt (author of the critically acclaimed book “Dark Banquet”), Dr. John Whitaker, Jr. (Indiana State University), Dr. Al Kurta (Eastern Michigan University
), Dr. Tim Carter (Ball State University
), Rob Mies (Organization for Bat Conservation), Bill Scullon (Michigan Department of Natural Resources
), Mike Frayer (Milwaukee County Zoo) and many others.
Bat Festivals are held in other regions of the US, as well. The annual Austin Bat Festival is held at the end of each summer, at the famous Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas. Visitors are able to witness over one million Mexican Free Tail bats taking to the sky each evening as part of the celebration of these amazing flying mammals that help keep the balance of night time insects in check.
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan, northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,869...
2, at the Indiana State University
Indiana State University
Indiana State University is a public university located in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States.The Princeton Review has named Indiana State as one of the "Best in the Midwest" seven years running, and the College of Education's Graduate Program was recently named as a 'Top 100' by U.S...
Center for North American Bat Research and Conservation in Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
3, at the Milwaukee County Zoo
Milwaukee County Zoo
The Milwaukee County Zoo is a zoo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operated by the Milwaukee County Parks Commission. The zoo houses 1,800 animals and covers an area of . It is noted for the first birth of polar bears and siamangs in captivity...
in Milwaukee, WI4, and in Iron Mountain, Michigan
Iron Mountain, Michigan
Iron Mountain is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,154. It is the county seat of Dickinson County, in the state's Upper Peninsula....
near Millie Hill Mine5.
The goal of the Great Lakes Bat Festival is to bring attention to the diversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
of life on earth, teach people about the importance of bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s, explain the need for conservation, and give people the tools to make a positive change in their local environment. The festival includes live bat programs presented by the Organization for Bat Conservation
Organization for Bat Conservation
Organization for Bat Conservation is an nonprofit organization to further Bat Conservation. It is a conservationist organization, founded by Rob Mies and Kim Williams in the late 1990s. OBC’s vision is to inspire a peaceful coexistence between bats and humans and to promote global participation...
featuring bats from around the world, including North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n insect-eating bats, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n leaf-nosed bat
Leaf-nosed bat
The New World leaf-nosed bats are found throughout Central and South America, from Mexico to northern Argentina. They are ecologically the most varied and diverse family within the order Chiroptera...
s, and giant Asian fruit bat
Fruit Bat
Fruit Bat can refer to:* Megabats, a species of bat which eats fruit* Les "Fruitbat" Carter, guitarist of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine* Fruit Bats , an American band...
s!
Events and Highlights of the Great Lakes Bat Festival include: Great Lakes Region
Great Lakes region (North America)
The Great Lakes region of North America, occasionally known as the Third Coast or the Fresh Coast , includes the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as the Canadian province of Ontario...
expert presentations about the benefits of bats, bat houses, bat research, bat conservation, public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
, endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
, and much more. The festival has hosted films, authors, bat house and bat detector
Bat detector
A bat detector is a device used to detect the presence of bats by converting their echolocation ultrasound signals to audible frequencies as they are emitted by the bats...
building workshops, educational exhibits, mine tours, children’s activities, and live animal programs.
Evening events include, bat researchers erecting a mist net to catch local bats. Bat detection devices, research techniques, radio-tagging and/or light-tagging is demonstrated6.
Special Guests and Speakers include:
Jannell Cannon
Jannell Cannon
Janell Cannon is an American children's writer and illustrator.Janell was born in 1957 in St. Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of Burton H. and Nancy A. Cannon. She attended Burnsville High School, and graduated in 1975...
7 (Artist & Author of award-winning book Stellaluna
Stellaluna
Stellaluna is a fictional female fruit bat in a children's book of the same name by author Janell Cannon, written in 1993. In fact, this book aired on the PBS series Reading Rainbow in 1994. On that episode, Anne Jackson narrated the story. It is featured in the 2001 movie I am Sam and is a very...
), Fiona Reid (Artist & Author), Bill Schutt (author of the critically acclaimed book “Dark Banquet”), Dr. John Whitaker, Jr. (Indiana State University), Dr. Al Kurta (Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ypsilanti is west of Detroit and eight miles east of Ann Arbor. The university was founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School...
), Dr. Tim Carter (Ball State University
Ball State University
Ball State University is a state-run research university located in Muncie, Indiana. It is also known as Ball State or simply BSU.Located on the northwest side of the city, Ball State's campus spans and includes 106 buildings...
), Rob Mies (Organization for Bat Conservation), Bill Scullon (Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is the agency of the state of Michigan charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appointed by the Governor and accepted by the Natural Resources Commission...
), Mike Frayer (Milwaukee County Zoo) and many others.
Bat Festivals are held in other regions of the US, as well. The annual Austin Bat Festival is held at the end of each summer, at the famous Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas. Visitors are able to witness over one million Mexican Free Tail bats taking to the sky each evening as part of the celebration of these amazing flying mammals that help keep the balance of night time insects in check.