Gone Batty
By: Jonathan Jones 06/11/2013
This weekend I explored the Lakewood Forest Preserve. It was such a nice day out so without any real plans, I just got in the car and ended up finding a pretty interesting spot. I had heard about the bat shelter before and it's mentioned on their website, but I didn't know how educational (in a fun way) it was.
When I arrived, I was near Shelter E (map of the preserve), and when I saw a trailhead marker, I pulled over, parked, and started walking on the "Snozberry" trail. I immediately saw two beautiful deer jump out into the trail and then casually mosey by, followed by a beautiful red tailed hawk that flew away before I could get a picture.
After a few minutes, I found myself on the opposite end of the field that I had entered near, and I found an area devoted to bats! The whole section of this wonderful park had learning stations about bats, including what they eat and the importance of their presence in our natural environment.
The shelter is off limits to people but you can still hear them chirping to each other in their wooden box nests. Plus, because I was there around dusk, I actually saw a few of them flying in and out, which might be creepy to some people, but anything that can eat 1200 mosquitoes in an hour is alright by me. On the way out, there was a meadow full of deer to complete my evening adventure. This preserve is definitely stocked full of wildlife and it was a really great experience.
Walking through the trails was a wonderfully calming experience and it really makes me wonder how many more fun places are waiting just around the corner in Lake County!
