The largest urban colony of bats in North America roosts under the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas. Every night at dusk between April and October, approximately 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats spiral out of the crevices and head out to hunt for the night. The free natural show lasts approximately an hour, one can barely believe the numbers as they continually pour out into the sky.
The bats fly at 60mph, two miles high, and feed upon roughly 20,000 pounds of insects every night. Some people may fear bats, but they should be thankful for them as champions in pest control. The colony is predominantly female and June is the month when they give birth to a single pup, which feed from a gland under the mother’s wing. The bats migrate to central Mexico for the winter.
How to experience the bats?
+Standing on the east side of the Congress Avenue Bridge gives a front and center close up view of the bats emerging and flying east out over Lady Bird Lake.
+The hill below the bridge is a place to sit down and watch the show by the Nightwing sculpture.
+Take a boat tour on one of the cruises specific to bat viewing.
+Rent a kayak and paddle up to the lake, as close as you may dare remembering that guano, bat poop, may rain on a person that is too bold.