Bud Werner Memorial Library

Get up-close and personal with bats from around the world.

This family-oriented program is a live bat encounter with leading bat expert Rob Mies in celebration of the Year of the Bat.

Step into the mysterious world of bats and explore their benefits, habitats, and ways to protect them. You will encounter a Big Brown bat from North America and hear its high-pitched echolocation with a “bat detector,” meet fruit bats from Africa and Asia, and finally, come face-to-face with the largest bat in the world, the Gigantic Flying Fox Bat from Malaysia. This beautiful bat has nearly a six-foot wingspan!

This program is FREE.  However, donations will be accepted gratefully at the door in support of  Yampa Valley Land Trust and its  conservation work in Northwest Colorado — including conservation of bat habitat (... and to help offset the cost of this program).

About Rob Mies
Rob Mies is a TV personality, conservation biologist, bat expert, Director of the Organization for Bat Conservation and author. Mies and his bats have appeared on many television shows including The Tonight Show, The Ellen Degeneres Show, The Today Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Martha Stewart - and he is the co-author of the book, Stokes Beginners Guide to Bats. His research includes work with the endangered Indiana Bat of the United States, the endangered Rodrigues Fruit Bat in the Indian Ocean and the threatened Spectacled Flying Fox Bat in Australia.

The mission of the Organization for Bat Conservation is: To preserve bats and their habitats through education, collaboration, and research. Further the advancement of science and education by aiding, encouraging, and participating in bat husbandry, wildlife management, education, public health, zoological associations, conservation, and habitat protection. Encourage people to reconnect with nature and actively participate in protecting bats and other wildlife locally and globally. Improve the quality of public education concerning wildlife, conservation, ecological and environmental concerns, and to promote a peaceful coexistence between bats and the public.

This program is generously sponsored by the Yampa Valley Land Trust in celebration of the nonprofit land conservation organization's 20th anniversary. Yampa Valley Land Trust is dedicated to the conservation of natural, scenic, agricultural, historic and other public and private open land resources in Northwest Colorado, including but not limited to Routt, Moffat, Jackson and Rio Blanco Counties - with a focus on the Upper Yampa River Basin in Routt County and Upper White River Basin in Rio Blanco County - for the benefit of this and future generations.