By the Numbers: Going Batty
In a special edition of By the Numbers, we'll look at the viral sensation of one small bat snoozing in the nonfiction section of a library. On Tuesday, April 19, Library Aide Haley Zach discovered this cute little critter "bat napping" in the stacks. We called Camas-Washougal Animal Control, who promptly arrived to rescue and release it back into the wild at Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Thanks to Officer Bryan Caine who was calm and collected throughout and didn’t even “bat” an eyelash when we asked if we could document the event with photos (and even snap one quick pic of our new friend with the book Bats in the Library by Brian Lies).
We’re glad we did because the photos we posted to social media soon went viral. Since April 19: • The social media post has reached 650K people between Facebook and Instagram. • There have been 27K likes and reactions to the post, and 50K clicks to links we put in the post. • More than 3,500 people shared the post and almost 3,000 people commented. • Visits to our Facebook page rose 1,700% at their peak. • Brian Lies, the author of the book, commented on the post.
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