Decades ago, I developed a fear of bats. I’m terrified of them!
The fear originated when I was about 12 years old and one on me indoors! We were on holiday and staying in a holiday house. The living room was at the front of the house and the loo and the hall light switch were at the back of the house. One night, after watching tv I was walking down the hall in the dark on my way to the loo when this thing brushed across the side of my neck. It was the creepiest thing I have ever felt touch my bare skin! As my mum will testify to – I screamed the place down!
It was a bat.
After terrorising me, it had flown into the kitchen where my folks spent the next hour trying to catch it to set it free. The creature eventually fell, exhausted, into the sink. My dad trapped it in a tea towel and cupped it in his hands. I remember him bringing it into my bedroom to show me my attacker.
I’ve been absolutely terrified of them ever since.
Move on forty some years and I found myself in Austin, Texas for a few days. Fabulous city but one of its main tourist attractions is the bat colony that lives under the Ann W Richards Congress Avenue Bridge in the heart of the city.
Every night at dusk the entire colony flies out from under the bridge. Folks wait on the bridge and down on the banks of Lady Bird Lake or in boats on the lake for hours waiting for the bats to flock out.
The very thought sends shivers to my core!
When I first visited Austin two years ago, I declined to go and watch this spectacle. I recall walking under the bridge late afternoon one day and hearing the bats stirring. They were chirping and squeaking. That was as much as I could cope with that trip.
However, some fears perhaps need to be faced. So, big girl panties pulled up, I agreed to go and watch the bats fly out for the night.
The bat colony in questions are Mexican Free-tailed bats. They took up residence under Congress Avenue Bridge around 1980 when bridge renovation work created perfect narrow dark warm crevices for them to hide in. The bats are great for the local environment as they consume a huge number of insects, including mosquitos, evert night. Its estimated, depending on the time of year and size of the colony that they eat between 20 000- 30 000 pounds (9 -13.5 tons) of bugs a night!!
So, how many bats are lurking under the bridge?
Numbers vary depending on the time of year. At peak season, after they have bred, there are 1.5M of them.
At this time of year, their numbers are considerably lower. There were around 150 000 in residence while was in town. More than enough for me, thank you very much!
On our first night in town, Boy Child and I headed to the bridge as the sun was setting to secure our rail spot for the night. Definitely not my usual preferred kind of rail spot! With my stomach in knots, I stood leaning on the rail watching the kayakers and tourist boats gather below on Lady Bird lake and the crowds gather on either bank and around me. My heart was pounding as I waited.
Eventually, the bats began to emerge. I had expected them to fly out in a big group but on this evening they came out in several smaller groups with many of them spending time flying round the columns of the bridge itself. It was getting quite dark as most of them flew east across the sky.
Congress Bridge bats in Austin Tx 260326
A few nights later, we were waling back across the bridge to our Air BnB after dinner as they were emerging again. This time it was earlier in the evening and it was lighter. It was also less windy and I suspect that plays a part here too.
We stopped on the bridge for a second time to watch them set off for a night’s hunting. This time they swarmed out in a constant flow of tiny fluttering critters.
Congress Bridge bats in Austin Tx pt 2 290326
Congress Bridge bats in Austin Tx 290326
I’ll admit that seeing them swarm off across the sky was an impressive sight. I shudder to think what 1.5M of them looks like!
As I walked back to the Air BnB I was pondering two questions – where do they go every night and when do they return?
I guess I’ll never know.
Coral McCallum 