Halloween season is just around the corner, and it feels like the perfect reason to highlight one of the spookiest (and cutest!) Wild Things from our Wild Things of the Upstate book: the Little Brown Bat. 🦇
I've never been a fan of ghostly or ghastly Halloween decor, and I have to say—thanks to our illustrator Carissa Grace Bowser—this bat is actually pretty adorable. He's a perfect mix of nature and Halloween inspiration.
I feel like I haven't talked enough about the incredible wildlife glossary author Abby Moore Keith included in the back of the book to help us learn more about each letter’s wild thing. Here’s what it says about this little creature:
Little brown bat
Myotis lucifugus (my-OH-tis loo-SIH-fyoo-gus)
These flying mammals can live up to 30 years and are great pest killers—they can eat 15 mosquitoes a minute! The little brown bat, along with other bat species in the Upstate of South Carolina, are quickly disappearing due to white-nose syndrome, a disease caused by a fungus that attacks bats during hibernation. Hanging bat boxes can help provide fungus-free homes for bats.
Bat species are hard to identify. Look for different species near abandoned buildings, open fields, parks, and wild spaces at dusk.
🦇 If you’re also looking for kid-friendly bat activities or easy Halloween crafts, here are a couple DIY bat projects that are fun, simple, and educational:
These make great Halloween projects for preschoolers or early readers, especially if you’re pairing them with a read-aloud of Wild Things of the Upstate.
