The Mystery Surrounding Bats is Coming Out of the Dark in New Exhibit!

Often thought of as blood-sucking, squeaky creatures that get tangled in your hair, Bats: Masters of the Night is the latest in exciting exhibitions coming to the Grand Rapids Public Museum beginning Saturday, September 18, 2021. Visitors will find those beliefs to be myths that have held fast throughout the years. The exhibit explains that bats are actually gentle, beneficial little animals.

In the exhibit, visitors will experience lifelike models, multisensory interactive displays and environmentally lifelike settings, like entering the exhibit through a Gothic castle, to set the scene for an up-close look at these mammals in their natural habitats. The home of the 18th-century bat enthusiast will walk visitors through centuries of mythic representations of bats by different cultures. A transitional area with bat portrait photography and a giant-screen video will introduce visitors to the real world of bats as diverse, beneficial mammals with fascinating skills and extraordinary abilities.

A hands-on display will showcase the evening activities of bats, such as echolocation (sonar ability), pollination, diet and flight. In a demonstration of echolocation, visitors can use a joystick to maneuver a bat model in search of food using a laser to simulate sonar. In a visit to a bat nursery, visitors learn how caring bat mothers are by using sound to help the mother bat find her baby.

Bats are important in many ecosystems across the world. For example, many fruit-bearing trees in the rainforest depend on bats. In order to reproduce, these trees bear fruit that need seed dispersal and are ingested, often by bats. The bats, in turn spread waste material containing seeds that as dispersed, regenerate the rainforest.

Bats: Masters of the Night will be included with general admission to the GRPM, and will be open through mid-January 2022. Museum Members can experience the exhibit first at the member-only preview, on Saturday, September 18 at 9 a.m., before opening to the public later that morning. For more information, visit grpm.org/Bats. 

Bats is brought to the GRPM by Evergreen Exhibitions and is sponsored by The Steve & Amy Van Andel Foundation, David & Carol Van Andel Family Foundation, Chris & Kim Branoff, WGVU Public Media and La Mejor Radio.