University of Florida is home to one of the world’s largest urban bat populations. At sunset, people gather at the Bat House to watch the bats evening emergence. UF estimates its colony to be about 350,000, and includes Southeastern mouse-eared bats, evening bats and a subspecies of the Brazilian free-tailed bat.
On warm spring and summer evenings, the bats come out for about 15 minutes to eat, drink and get some exercise. Bats eat up to 1,000 bugs each, every night, and help reduce pesticide use on campus. People are encouraged to watch, but are not permitted to touch or disturb them as designated by Florida law.
The UF Bat Barns and Bat House are located on Museum Road just across from Lake Alice, and a parking lot is just to the west.