Entirely Adequate

We finally made it to Lake Guntersville to see the bats emerging from Sauta Cave at dusk last weekend. We missed the group “batyaking” trip due to the husband working overtime, but since we had been waiting for nearly a year to see these bats (they only do their massive-flight thing during the summer), we dutifully loaded our kayak onto the truck and headed to the Guntersville Dam, where we schlepped the boat down a rocky pathway to the water.

Immediately, I realized why the batyakers make their trip in a big group on a Friday night: We were the only kayakers in a huge gathering of power boats ending their Saturday boating (on a holiday weekend, no less) with a trip to the bat cave.

And how much do I love saying “bat cave”?

The power boaters were the most polite boaters I’ve ever encountered, however, so we really had no worries mingling among them. The trip from the launching point at the dam to the bat cave (heh) took about 15 minutes at full kayaking speed; we got there at about 7:50 p.m.

We didn’t see any bats until around 8:15, when we started noticing them swooping around the boats like little X-wing fighters. No pics, because it was nearly dark when they emerged and they moved so fast that I didn’t even know where to aim the camera.

After about 30 minutes of action, the bats seemed to be finished, or maybe it was so dark we just couldn’t see them anymore. We kayaked back to the launching point in the dark, which was kind of scary yet awesome, and reloaded the kayak.

This is definitely must-see entertainment for North Alabamians with a canoe, kayak or other boat.