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The best time to see the bat flights is during the summer months at Carlsbad Caverns. You can certainly enjoy the bat flights between the months of May and October, but you can expect the largest numbers of bats during the months of July and August. The increase in numbers has a lot to do with the migration patterns of the bats, but also because the baby bats will join the adults for their first flights during July and August.

In addition to the majestic sight of thousands of bats leaving or returning to roost, you can also enjoy several presentations that are given by the Rangers almost every evening. The Park Rangers are well educated on the migration patterns of the bats, as well as the diet and nightly activities. Before the bats leave the roost, you can attend the lectures and learn something about the creatures that you are about to see.

And once the bats do appear, it is an amazing experience for the eyes and the ears. You will thrill to see the swarms of bats moving in tandem with each other as the venture out for their evening meal. As much as you will want to capture this sight for the future, you must remember that there are no cameras allowed. You won’t be able to capture anything in the dark, anyway, and the use of a camera flash can be very dangerous for the bats.