Carlsbad Caverns National Park has a variety of wildlife throughout the area, the best known being the bats. While many people may connect bats to horror films, vampires, and Halloween, the Park Service recognizes these creatures for all their beauty and highlight their unique nature throughout the year.

Home to 17 species of bats, Carlsbad Caverns contains a "bat flight amphitheater" where visitors can observe these creatures taking off from out of the cave during late May to October evenings. Rangers deliver a program prior to hundreds, if not thousands, of bats taking off into the sunset to search out insect meals.

According to National Park Service, the best bat flights to find often happen during August and September, as baby bats and migrating bats join those flights.

Watching the bat flights out of the caverns is a popular event during summer evenings at Carlsbad Caverns National Park / NPS - Lacey Thomas

In addition to the bats - definitely the stars of the show - Carlsbad Caverns is also home to 67 other mammal species, though these animals are rarely seen. Some examples are black bears, spotted skink, and non-native animals, such as eastern fox squirrels.

Other native animals not as frequently seen but living within the national park are mule deer, cougars, and javelinas.

The diversity of this area's ecosystem includes water from Rattlesnake Springs, a rare desert wooded riparian area and home to 357 species of birds, 55 different reptiles and amphibians, five species of fish, and a growing list of more than 600 different insects. Click here for more wildlife information and to view, download, and print out various Carlsbad Caverns National Park wildlife checklists.

The wildlife found at Carlsbad Caverns makes this national park an all-round experience whether you are above ground, or in the deep cavern passages.