GREAT BEND – Small bats, big bats, brown bats, red bats, all will be explored during the Kansas Wetlands Education Center’s (KWEC) Bat Fair on Feb. 11, 2018. From 2 – 4 p.m., the Center, located at 592 NE K-156 Hwy, Great Bend, will host a variety of free activities, including crafts and a cave-themed scavenger hunt, all designed to help visitors discover the fascinating world of bats.

The fair will begin with a presentation by Fort Hays State University’s Sternberg Museum of Natural History zoologist Curtis Schmidt, co-author of Bats of Kansas. Schmidt will provide a brief, informative report about several Kansas bat species, how scientists gather data on these beneficial nocturnal hunters, and the fight to save bats from a devastating disease.

After crafting their own bat, kids can complete a scavenger hunt in a “cave,” finding cave animals in addition to bats, compare bat wing spans, and “capture” and measure their own bats.

Visitors will be able to view KWEC’s live big brown bats, as well as several Sternberg museum bat specimens that will be on hand. Instructions for building bat boxes will be available for those who want to attract bats and enjoy the benefits they provide by controlling mosquitoes and other insect pests.

For more information, contact KWEC at (877) 243-9268.

Funding for this program is approved under the authority of the Endangered Species Recovery Implementation Funds, CFDA Program #15.657.

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