DES MOINES, Iowa — Dozens of rescued bats were released back into the wild in Des Moines Tuesday night.

According to the Iowa Wildlife Center, many bat species will travel south for the winter, but some species in Iowa will hibernate. In about late October the center said they start getting calls about bats looking for a cozy place to hibernate inside someone’s home or a building. The center will take in these bats and will rehabilitate them and release them if able. However, during the winter months the bats can’t be released, as they should be hibernating and there’s no food source for them. So, the center will take them in.

Once the weather warms up and insects begin to come out the center will then release the rehabilitated bats in groups at different locations in Iowa.

“The significance is we had over a hundred bats come into us for care this winter and now tonight we’re gonna release 46 here at Gray’s Lake, which is a big number for us,” Marlene Ehresman, executive director of the Iowa Wildlife Center, said.

On Tuesday, the center released 46 bats at Gray’s Lake and invited the public to witness the bat release and learn more about the creatures. If you’re interested in seeing a bat release, the center said it will be releasing another group of bats on Wednesday night in Ames.

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