Paddle your way to a sunset bat viewing on the Cosumnes River

Watching bats take off into the summer night has long been a tradition around Sacramento, with one of the largest bat colonies residing under the bridge along the Yolo Causeway. 

Now there’s an opportunity to see these flying mammals while paddling along the Cosumnes River. 

Maddy Barton and Amber Vaselka are the co-founders and guides for Wild Spirit Recreation, an outdoor guide company in Northern California. The pair believe that nature belongs to everyone, and their company’s core mission is to make the outdoors accessible and enjoyable for all.

Wild Spirit leads the Sunset Bat Flyout Paddle at the Cosumnes River Preserve. These events take place most Saturdays in August and September, including this weekend (Aug. 9).

Barton and Vaselka sat down with CapRadio’s Vicki Gonzalez to talk about the upcoming events.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview highlights

So, why bats and paddling? How did this idea come together? 

AMBER: So Cosumnes River Preserve offers a great opportunity [to explore] with peaceful sloughs and winding waterways with riparian habitat. There's a bat colony population of Mexican free-tailed bats that live there. 

During the summer months, it's really cool to watch them, especially from the water to fly out from under the bridge. It's an experience like no other. There's thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats. They emerge from their roost hunting the insects and there's hawks and other birds of prey waiting there as the bats fly out and it's a scene from National Geographic. 

For those who haven't been to this preserve, what's so special about it?

MADDY: The Cosumnes River Preserve is a 55,000-acre nature preserve that's protected by several different agencies and it's all about just protecting natural spaces. It's a huge corridor that expands up towards [Highway] 99 all the way to I-5 following the Cosumnes River. The Consumnes River is also one of the only undammed rivers this side of the Sierra Nevada. So it's super important for our natural ecology that happens here in California.

Do you have to be an experienced paddle boarder to participate?

AMBER: Absolutely not. This trip is for beginners as well. You can paddle board. We also have kayaks available. So it’s an opportunity for everyone for families to come out and enjoy. 

There are a couple of opportunities for people to participate in the Sunset Bat Flyout Paddle. What should people expect if they want to go on one of these? 

AMBER: Wildspiritrecreation.com is the site to sign up there with all our dates. We go out a couple hours before sunset, paddle around the rivers and sloughs, check out the riparian habitat, make it to the bridge prior to sunset, watch the bats fly out, and then make our way back to the dock.

Are you guaranteed to see the bats fly out? 

AMBER: It's pretty much a guarantee. Time varies sometimes, depending on when they're going to fly out. Usually it's right after sunset, but depending on the weather or if it's cooler, it could be 20 minutes before sunset. But this time of year from about May through September, you can expect to see a flyout. 

How many people can participate? 

MADDY: We take up to six people. However, if you do have your own boats, you're also more than welcome to join at a reduced cost.

Do bats hold a special place in either of your hearts?

MADDY: Growing up on the Delta, I grew up around agriculture. Bats are super important for pollinating and eating a lot of insects, which help our farmers. So, they're really important to our local environment. 

AMBER: They play a crucial role in our ecosystems and they're one of nature's most fascinating and misunderstood creatures. They can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour, but they usually eat up to their body weight for the night. They’re important in the ecosystem's health. They're pollinators and they help with seed dispersal as well. And because of habitat loss, there is some declining population [in bats]. So, this area is very important for the bats.

What other services or activities does Wild Spirit Recreation provide?

MADDY: We offer backpacking trips in August. We're going back to Tahoe National Forest for a backpacking trip as well as later on in August we're going to Point Reyes for a two-night backpacking trip. We also offer educational services. And we have our own naturalist program for youth and teach all about our local ecosystem, whether it's water, animals, plants, a variety of other things.

AMBER: Our backpacking trips are kind of “intro trips.” Anyone who has never really been exploring the outdoors and wants to have a first-time experience, this is a good opportunity to do so. We have gear that's available for people so they don't necessarily have to go out and buy their own. 

We also offer group trips. So if you have a company or an organization and want to do some sort of team building or go on a guided paddle on your own, we also do those guided activities for specialized groups as well.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to start exploring the outdoors but maybe they don't feel like they're the outdoorsy type - what advice do you have for them?

MADDY: Just to try it. Try getting outdoors. Try experiencing it. Learn what's around you. There's a whole environment around you, just explore. 

AMBER: Yeah, come explore with us. Join us on a trip. We're open to everyone, beginners always welcome. We love to have people out there to explore for the first time and see their local resources and teach them about things that were in their own backyard that they didn't even know about.