It’s getting ‘bat-tastic’ in Hamtramck

By Charles Sercombe
Things got pretty batty at Veterans Park Tuesday evening.
Not exactly “batguano” crazy, but still.
A group of about 30 or more adults and kids gathered under a pavilion at the park to learn about bats, and received bat houses they can assemble and hang outside at their homes, all thanks to the Hamtramck Parks Conservancy, which hosted the get-together.
On hand was park ranger Todd Weston of the Fish & Wildlife Service, who gave a brief about bats and, specifically, on Michigan’s most common bats, the little brown and big brown bats.
You would think, since they have similar names, they would be related, but that’s not the case at all. Apparently, the people who name bats around here aren’t terribly creative.
In total, Michigan has nine species of bats.
For the curious, no, there weren’t any live bats – but, there were a couple of stuffed ones for the kiddies.
In reality, bats aren’t exactly cuddly little critters, as they can bite when they perceive danger – and bats can also be prone to carrying the rabies virus. So, best not to handle them in the wild; call an expert if you cross paths with a bat that seems distressed or wounded.
On top of that, Weston said, bats “kind of smell bad.”
“But I don’t want you to be afraid of bats,” said Weston, who let it be known that his fascination with the creatures started when he was young.
Back then, Weston said, he would attend football games to watch his brother in the marching band, and he would notice a number of bats fluttering in the sky, attracted to the bright lights illuminating the football field.
While bats do not make good pets, they are useful in eating about half their weight in bugs nightly – including those pesky mosquitoes.
With any luck, you might start to see more bats busy at work around town, thanks to the bat houses that were handed out.
When bats aren’t camping out in bat houses, they live in trees, and are on the night shift when hunting for dinner.
Like many Michiganders, some bats will migrate to warmer climates during the winter, while others will hunker down and hibernate during our coldest months.
Ever experience a bat swooping down near your head?
That’s
because you might have a scent that they are attracted to, Weston said, or there’s a moth near you, which is one of the favorite snacks of bats. They don’t mean any harm though, and you should cut them some slack for the occasional indiscretion.
“Bats can make mistakes,” he said.
A weird thing about bats: they love to eat moths, and they zero in on their prey, basically, by sonar. But, get this: moths can hear the bats’ sonar, and have developed ways to make themselves impenetrable to bats’ wily sonic ways.
Weston calls it an evolutionary “arms race” between the two.
For those wondering, yes, there are vampire bats that drink blood (mostly from cattle). But no, they don’t have heavy eastern European accents. The good news, Weston said, is it’s “very unlikely you will deal with them.”
The most common of the three species of vampire bat is native to Central and South America, found nowhere near Michigan.
Here’s a good reason to raise a toast to bats: In the southwest, they are responsible for pollinating the agave cactus, which is where tequila comes from. And that is a multi-million dollar business.
Or, look at it another way: without agave, there would be a lot of unhappy folks.
As for bat guano, harvesting their waste is another multi-million dollar business. Guano, in case you don’t know, is prized fertilizer.
One other factoid: believe it or not, bats can swim. “But it’s awkward,” Weston said.
Especially if they imbibe some fermented agave, or so we imagine.
Be sure to check out the Hamtramck Parks Conservancy on their Facebook page for more upcoming events.
Posted Sept. 20, 2026