Spooky Halloween Speakers Series
Features “Bats: Fact or Fiction”

Allen's Big-eared Bat

It’s getting batty at Keep Sedona Beautiful! In the spirit of Halloween, on Wednesday, October 21st, conservationist (and REAL Bat Man) Brian Keeley will present “Bats: Fact or Fiction” at the Keep Sedona Beautiful “Preserving the Wonder” Speaker Series. Although the presentation is factual and informative, it is also highly entertaining for young people.

The former Facilities and Conservation Director of the Arboretum at Flagstaff, Mr. Keeley has been a conservation ecologist for over 30 years, working as a bat ecologist since 1994. He was in project development at the renowned Bat Conservation International in Austin, Texas, and has extensively studied bat and human relationships, tropical pollination and seed dispersal, etc. “No other animals I have worked with are as widespread and unusual as bats!” says Keeley.

“Bats are difficult to see or hear and even harder to catch, which may explain why myths spread faster than truth. This presentation will focus on the lives of bats from around the world, followed by a discussion of our own Arizona bats, as we are lucky to be living in one of the most bat-wealthy regions in the U.S. We will finally separate the facts from the often-scary fiction. If we are lucky, and we usually are, we will have a live bat for a close-up viewing and an echolocation demonstration where you learn to use a device called a bat detector that changes their inaudible voices into sounds you can hear”.

The “Preserving the Wonder” Speaker Series evening begins at 5:30 on Wednesday, October 21st with a special Halloween welcome reception for the public. At 5:45 the program will begin. Mr. Keeley will answer questions following his remarks and the event will conclude at 7pm. with a special surprise grand finale!

Speakers Series programs are presented the third Wednesday of each month from September through June at the KSB headquarters, the historic Pushmataha Center at 360 Brewer Rd. in Sedona. Featuring a wide variety of topics related to the “wonder” of our region, this popular series dates back to the early KSB organization with a mission to engage, inform and inspire the community. Donations are appreciated, members are free.