DMTC's Theater As Bat Cave



Above: Yolo By-Pass Wilderness Area - Free tailed bat fly-out on July 27, 2006. Estimated 250,000 bats in this migrant colony which departs for Mexico in the fall. Colony roost is below I-80 Yolo Causeway.


The I-80 Yolo Causeway crosses the Yolo Bypass (a sort-of alternative Sacramento River bed, down which snowmelt is diverted in the spring to prevent flooding) between Sacramento and Davis. The I-80 Yolo Causeway is sister to the I-5 Yolo Causeway, which also crosses the Yolo Bypass, but between Woodland and the Sacramento International Airport.

In the warm months, every evening precisely at sunset, thousands of bats leave their roosts under the I-80 Yolo Causeway and head as a flock, generally to the west, to spend an evening catching insects. It's quite a sight, and available to all travelers on I-80 at sunset! But not all bats return to their roosts by dawn....

Apparently a week-and-a-half ago, a bat found its way into the theater (perhaps during set-building for Disney's "Mulan, Jr.", when the big rollup door had be open). The bat has been seen only sporadically, leading the theater's consultant on bat activity, a woman known as the Bat Lady, to suggest that perhaps two separate bats have flown into the theater at different times.

Saturday evening, just a few minutes prior to "The Sound Of Music," the bat appeared backstage, flying to and fro in the spacious zone behind the cyc. The bat flew into the theater proper (the House) and seemed particularly attracted by the curtain fabric above the stage, trying several times to roost there. We opened backstage doors, including the big rollup door, to coax the bat outside, but the bat was flying too high (12 feet up, at a minimum) to be tempted to leave. Timorously, Jan announced to the waiting audience, gathered in the lobby, that a bat was present in the theater and not to be too worried about it if it appeared during the show. Remarkably, judging by the lack of a reaction, the audience seemed to have no problem with a flying bat.

During the show, the bat stayed out of sight. I have no idea what the bat was doing during that time, but I'd like to think he was clinging upside down from the ceiling, transfixed by the story of Maria and Captain von Trapp, and enjoying the music.

After the show, just before the lights were turned off in the entire theater, the bat reappeared, flying to and fro in the lobby. Jetta (a friend from Tuesday's Improv class) and I opened the doors of the lobby, but the bat was flying too high (12 feet up, at a minimum) to be encouraged to leave.

....

Following the post-show gathering for dinner and pie at Baker's Square, Jetta and I decided to return to the darkened theater (about 12:45 a.m.) to try again to remove the bat. We both worried about the poor, trapped bat, cut off from insects and its fellow kind. Plus, a trapped bat wouldn't be any great boon to the theater.

We opened up a door to the lobby, turned on the lobby's lights, and saw nothing at first. Suddenly, the bat appeared, circling right in our faces, flying to and fro in the lobby, between knee and head height (apparently the bat had been on-or-near the floor when we startled it). We quickly scrambled to open the rest of the lobby's doors.

As I opened one glass door, in the reflection of the door's glass, I saw the bat directly behind my head (and since I could see a reflection, the bat wasn't a 'vampire'!)

Then, suddenly, the bat vanished. Did the bat leave unobserved? Maybe, maybe... Jetta thought she had caught motion out of the corner of her eye, however, suggesting the bat had flown back into the theater proper, but after turning on lights all over the theater, we were still unable to locate it. After a while, she began doubting whether she had actually seen anything. I thought there was a real chance the bat had managed to make an escape through the lobby's doors, but we had no real confirmation.

Today, during Sunday matinee's "The Sound Of Music," no bat was sighted. Either the bat was keeping a very low profile, or the bat had vanished entirely. I hope the latter!