Going Batty: science centre releases bats in Wascana Park

While they won’t be doing any crime fighting, bats will take to the sky Tuesday night in Regina.

The Saskatchewan Science Centre will be releasing the bats it had kept in its “bat cave” over the winter in Wascana Park.

Ryan Holota, director of business development with the science centre, said they keep them inside to help ensure the young mammals survive the winter months.

“In the fall when it’s time for them to hibernate, they make a bad decision on where to do that so maybe it’s somewhere where they’re not very welcome or somewhere where they’re disturbed quite easily and then they are woken up after they’ve fallen asleep,” Holota told the 980 CJME Morning Show.

He said when awoken, the bats often don’t have enough energy to go back into hibernation. The science centre takes in the bats to ensure they are fed and have a safe place to be throughout the winter.

Families are invited out to the event to learn about the bats and watch them be released.

Holota said a glow-in-the-dark stick will be attached to the bats so people can watch them fly in the night sky.

The science centre is aiming to have the event take place at 8 p.m. but Holota admitted they are running on “bat time.”