Oklahoma Master Naturalists visit Selman Living Laboratory to observe Mexican Free-Tail Bats in Natural environment.
Oklahoma City – On July 27th & 28th, the Oklahoma Master Naturalists attended a bat watch near the Selman Living Laboratory, a UCO educational facility, and toured various habitat areas near Freedom, Oklahoma. On Friday night, the club enjoyed an astronomy program in a state-of-the-art observatory on top of a gypsum bluff. Hosted by Steve Maier, an instructor of Physics at NWOSU, and with the aid of some very large telescopes, OMN members had an excellent evening of viewing Mars, its moons and various constellations.
Saturday's activities included a guided wildflower/native plant walk lead by Dr. Gloria Caddell, a UCO biology professor, and included many OMN members very first spelunking experience in a cave on the Selman property. The group also toured Alabaster Caverns as part of the weekend’s caving experience. Later that evening, attendance was full at a guided bat watch during which one to two million of Mexican free-tailed bats flew into the evening sky on their nightly forage for insects. Dr. Bill Caire, also a UCO biology professor and authority on mammals, explained general misconceptions about the flying mammals and facilitated the group getting up close and personal knowledge of this amazing species.
The Oklahoma Master Naturalist Program is a 501c3 non-profit organization, developed and presented by the OSU Extension Service in cooperation with numerous natural resource agencies. We are a group of volunteers dedicated to learning about and preserving Oklahoma's rich biological diversity and sharing this knowledge through education, outreach, and service within our communities.
For more information you can contact Gail Brooks at 405-348-7610 or gbrooks585@aol.com. Information is also available on the web site at www.okmasternaturalist.org.
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