Bat-tastic: It's National Bat Week and the National Park Service is celebrating

THOUGH BATS ARE A BIG HALLOWEEN SYMBOL, they don't have Halloween plans, or maybe they do: They're going to eat some insects and perhaps some fruit, and they're going to do some impressive flapping, soaring, whooshing, and diving, and catching a little sleep while it is light out? Bats, those nocturnal superstars, famously keep it snoozy while the sun is high. So you can say, with accuracy, that bats will be plenty busy on Oct. 31, but so will bat-loving humans, for the final day of October is the last day of Bat Week. The annual event shines a light — or perhaps a moonbeam would be more apt — on how important bats are to our world and all of the good they do in nature. You can study your bat-centered books from Oct. 24-31 if you have them, or you can call upon a particularly batty national park, for the national parks are home to "more than 45 unique species of bats," cool. Will you see one? Maybe, maybe not, but you can get up on your bat knowledge by checking out what the National Park Service is sharing on social media, an education-fun October tradition.

THE FUZZY FESTIVITY... "... is an annual celebration of bats and the many roles they play in our ecosystems. They pollinate, eat insects, use echolocation, and fascinate visitors," shares the NPS. Spend some time on the Bat Week page at the National Park Service and enjoy some "Bativities" or learn how you can help bats, from avoiding caves "when directed" to installing bat houses at home. Bat science, bat facts, and amazing information, like how bats are among the "cooks in the kitchen" behind our favorite treats (think chocolate), are also included. Think you've got bat-titude? Then flap by this page now and get to know these marvelous mammals during their spotlight, er, moonlight week.