Bats, pumpkins and thousands of families traipsed through the fall air — but this wasn’t Halloween.
About 4,500 people swarmed to the Lubee Bat Conservancy’s 110-acre ranch for its 10th annual bat festival on Saturday. Eleven different species and 200 individual bats were on display at the ranch, located at 1309 NW 192nd Ave.
The most popular exhibit at the free festival was the bats, which hung off the top of their metal-wired cages like clothes hangers. Bat lovers of all ages lined up to “ooh” and “ah” at the enormity of the large flying fox, which can have a wingspan of up to six feet.
Among the other featured bat species were the little golden-mantled flying fox and the Rodrigues fruit bat, which munched on hanging, fruit-filled pumpkins and kabobs that speared apple, banana and watermelon.
Bat keeper Jade Salamone said the conservancy is typically closed to the public throughout the year.
“It’s a really great opportunity for people to come out and see what we’re doing,” Salamone said. “Plus, it’s fun for the bats. They get to show off for people.”
This year’s bat festival celebrated Lubee’s 25th year as a foundation. In 1993, Lubee began focusing on Old World fruit bat research and conservation, and since its founding in 1989, it has funded and conducted field projects in 19 countries.
One successful endeavor has been the Lubee-funded programs in Rodrigues Island. In 1979, there were no more than 75 Rodrigues fruit bats worldwide. Today, more than 16,000 fruit bats live in the wild.
Director Brian Pope said this engagement with the community will help with their mission. He said he’s seen the bat festival’s attendance grow from 60 to more than 4,300 people in its 10 years.
“We want to show people all the positive things that we’re doing and that we’re making a positive influence,” Pope said.
One of Lubee’s new focuses is to encourage people to build bat houses in their backyards, Salamone said. These small bat houses are about the size of a newspaper stand and can house 50 to 200 bats at a time. Each bat can eat up to 1,000 insects per hour, Salamone said.
“A lot of people have told me they want to do this,” she said. “It’s great because it can help make up for the loss of the bats’ habitats.”
Madison Surguine and her family traveled two hours from Clermont to see the bats.
In a raffle at the festival, the 17-year-old won bat-shaped chew toys and dog treats for her German Shepherd, Lyra.
“This event has actually made me decide that I want to volunteer at a place like this back home,” she said.
Jim McNabb, 72, drove from Orlando to see the bats with his 4-year-old granddaughter. He said he read a book about bats to his granddaughter Friday night to prepare her for the festival.
“I thought it was great,” McNabb said. “I’ve never seen bats as big as that.”
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 10/27/2014 under the headline "Bats fly high at festival"]
Three male Malayan flying foxes hang out during the 10th annual Florida Bat Festival at the Lubee Bat Conservancy on Saturday afternoon.
