Alabaster Caverns State Park, near Freedom, Okla., will host a bat festival April 10-11 to showcase Oklahoma's only flying mammals.

Mike Caywood, manager of Alabaster Caverns State Park, said the two-day event offers activities for all ages. "We'll be making bat masks, playing bat-related games and even mist-netting bats as they emerge from the cavern for their evening feeding session," Caywood said. Participants will also be able to attend an educational program on Oklahoma's bat species and see if their observation skills will earn the title of Official Bat Detective. Other activities include an acoustic bat walk and the "Bats, Bats, Bats: Oklahoma Nightlife" exhibit with live bats, bat skeletons and instruments used by researchers to study bats.

The Bat Wing Ding is free to the public. Cave tours are optional and cost $10 for adults and $7 for children ages 6-12. The event will begin at 9 a. m. each day and end at midnight.

Over 20 species of bats live in Oklahoma. Check out the "Bats of Oklahoma Field Guide" at wildlifedepartment.com to learn more about the evening flight times and behaviors of these species. In case you were wondering, bats are the only mammals capable of true flight (by gaining altitude). Flying squirrels glide; they can only descend from a higher perch.

Alabaster Caverns State Park is in northwestern Oklahoma, 6 miles south of Freedom or 20 miles north of Mooreland on U. S. 50. Turn east on U. S. 50A and travel a half-mile to the park's entrance.

The mission of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is the management of Oklahoma's wildlife resources and habitat to provide scientific, educational, aesthetic, economic and recreational benefits for present and future generations of hunters, anglers and others who appreciate wildlife.

News Contacts:
Jena Donnell,
jena. donnell@odwc.ok.gov


Micah Holmes,
micah. holmes@odwc.ok.gov

Website: wildlifedepartment.com

Telephone: (405) 496-0350

This program receives Federal assistance from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and thus prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, disability, age, and sex (gender), pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (as amended), Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. To request an accommodation or informational material in an alternative format, please contact (Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, (405) 521-3851. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or service, please contact: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office for Diversity and Workforce Management, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, Virginia 22041.