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El Malpais Monument Begins Bat Flight Programs

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Officials at El Malpais National Monument in western New Mexico say rangers will begin presenting bat flight programs starting Friday.

The free programs will be held every Friday over the next two months at the El Calderon Trailhead southwest of Grants.

Rangers say the bat flights out of El Calderon are a tradition at El Malpais. Thousands of bats emerge from the cave in the evening in a swirling pattern, spreading out to hunt insects during the night.

El Malpais' system of caves and lava tubes is home to more than a dozen species of bats. The monument also features the remnants of several major volcanic eruptions that date back 100,000 years.

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