GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Public Museum announced on Monday the newest exhibition in its lineup: “Bats: Masters of the Night.”
It’ll bring the mystery surrounding bats out of the dark beginning Saturday, Sept. 18.
Visitors will learn that bats are beneficial, gentle animals through lifelike models, multisensory interactive displays and environmentally lifelike settings, like entering the exhibit through a gothic castle.
The exhibit 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 bats’ benefits, skills and abilities.
A hands-on display will showcase the evening activities of bats, such as echolocation (solar 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.
During 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: Masters of the Night” will be included with general admission to the museum and will be open through mid-January 2022.
Museum members can experience the exhibit first at the member-only preview on Sept. 18 at 9 a.m. before it opens to the public later that morning.
