Register now for your chance to attend one of eight Selman Bat Watches hosted by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation in the month of July.
The weekend watches will be held at the Selman Bat Cave Wildlife Management Area, near Freedom, in northwestern Oklahoma. Pre-registered visitors will watch as hundreds of thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from the nearby cave to hunt for insects flying overhead. Information about the migratory bats will be shared before the nightly emergence, which typically lasts just over one hour.
Individual watches are scheduled Friday and Saturday nights from July 9 to July 31. Admission to the Selman Bat Watch is $14 for adults and $8 for children ages 8 – 12. Children must be 8 years of age or older to attend. Each night’s viewing activities are limited to 75 visitors.
Hopeful bat watch participants must mail their completed registration form to Selman Bat Watch c/o Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, P.O. Box 53465, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73152 between May 24 and June 1, 2021. In mid-June a drawing will be conducted from the pool of mailed-in registration forms. Only mailed registration forms postmarked on or before June 1 will be accepted. Successful registrants will receive email confirmation and an information packet by mail. Families or groups should send one registration form. Unsuccessful registrants will be notified by email and payment will be returned.
The registration form and information about Selman Bat Watches, including what to expect if selected for a watch, can be found at wildlifedepartment.com.
The Wildlife Department purchased the Selman Bat Cave WMA in 1995 to conserve one of the four known Mexican free-tailed bat maternity caves in Oklahoma and to increase public appreciation of bats.