Hannibal Parks and Recreation to offer night hike through Sodalis Nature Preserve Saturday

HANNIBAL, Mo. — “Where Oh Where Have the Little Bats Gone?” will be the theme for a night hike through Sodalis Nature Preserve beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, April 12.

April is the best time of the year to observe bats since the bats are starting to come out of hibernation.

Participants will meet at the new Sodalis Shelter on Ely Street. The full program will last about two hours and covers a two-mile paved loop with a steep incline, but there are options for a shorter period. Members of the Mississippi Hills Master Naturalists will help with the hike.

When exactly do the bats start leaving the abandoned lime kiln mines at the Sodalis Nature Preserve? Where do they go? In a press release, Gale Rublee, interpreter guide at Hannibal Parks and Recreation, said, “It depends on several factors from outside the air temperature, food supply and the stirring in their little bodies that spring is arriving; and it’s time to find their forest homes. If it’s a warm night, we might see some bats beginning to emerge.”

The program is free and open to the public. Participation is limited. Register at www.hannibalparks.recdesk.com/Community/Program