Congress Ave. Bats
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While visiting the hill country of Texas this past weekend, my girlfriend took me to see the famous bats of Austin’s Congress Avenue bridge. Some may have heard of or know that the bridge, located about 10-12 blocks in front of the state capital building crossing Lady Bird Lake, is home to the largest urban bat colony, not in the United States but in the WORLD! There are Segway tours, pontoon boat rides and everything you can imagine to market this attraction. The viewing areas are located all along the lake(generally the east side), on top of the bridge, or even on the water. |
Mexican free-tail bats call Austin home between the months of March to November. It is estimated that the colony size is roughly 1.5 million strong and growing. They fly out each dusk at sunset to consume nearly 30,000 lbs. of insects and bugs and return at about dawn and wait for it all again the next day. They live in the gaps underneath the road structure where they are pretty much invisible to the naked eye, the jogging trail and immediate areas surrounding the bridge has a distinct odor and the squeals of the bats can be heard within about 300-500 ft. of the bridge. They can live up to 30 years and each year a female will give birth to one baby, making them the most abundent mammal in North America. During the fall and winter seasons they migrate to Mexico for the warmer weather and return each year to live amongst the locals who welcome them back to their city.
For more information, check out Wikipedia’s page on Mexican free-tailed bats and the history of the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge.
Tags: mexican free-tailed bats
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