Often associated with vampires and caves, bats have a bad rap. Few people understand that these unsightly creatures are actually beneficial to humans. Some visitors to Bats may feel like they are on the set of a horror movie as they enter the exhibit through a gargoyle flanked neo-Gothic castle with spooky organ music playing in the background. An interactive cave provides children with an opportunity to learn about roosting bats, conservation, habitats and hibernation.
Children can crawl through the cave or hang like a bat.
An interactive rain forest provides a realistic look at bat habitats, echolocation, pollination, diet, and flight. Visitors can experience hearing the way a bat hears using giant bat ears nearly twenty times their actual size. Additional displays include a baby bat nursery, bat portrait photography, and a recreated curator's office filled with specimens, models of oversized bat heads, bones, and comparisons of bat and human anatomies. The exhibit demonstrates that bats really can see, do not get caught in hair, and do not catch criminals. Do not miss the chance to explore these winged wonders live during springbreak.