Get batty in Austin...it's fun, it's interesting
MALA ASHOK
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Austin, Texas, in the U.S., is home to the longest urban bat colony in North America.
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AMAZING: Bats darken the night sky.
If you are the kind of person who runs when you see bees leave a hive, you are in for the scare of your life if you visit Austin (Texas, U.S.) between March and November.
In this period over 1.5 million Mexican Free-Tailed Bats make their home (and their pups' nursery) under the Congress Avenue Bridge, which leads to Downtown Austin. It is the longest urban bat colony in North America.
Natural phenomenon
Bats have always lived in Austin, because of the availability of "food" but it was in 1980 that they made the city their permanent summer home. The Congress Avenue Bridge was renovated and as part of the construction requirements, there were some crevices (small holes) between spans. The bats must have jumped with joy since these proved to be the perfect "hang-out". In the evenings, mama bats go out to fetch food for their pups. In a day they polish off 10,000 to 30,000 insects, thus doing humans a big favour.
Everybody who visits Austin sees this remarkable natural phenomenon and so on an appropriate evening I rolled up a blanket and set off. We parked near the bridge and sat at a respectable distance. As if by clockwork, just before sunset, the bats began to emerge. Then suddenly the sky clouded as though the sun had been eclipsed.
Tens of thousands of bats emerged from under the bridge — it was an amazing sight. I learnt a little about these creatures. The baby bats are known as pups. Each mother bat delivers only one pup. They are usually born in June/July. On an average a pup weighs about a third of the weight of its mother. The mother bat nurses her baby (bats are mammals) for about five weeks and then teaches the pup to hunt.
The bats stay in Austin till October or early November when they head for Mexico. The best bat view is in Austin when the young pups join their mothers for their nightly hunts for food. There are boat rides where you can sail under the bridge and watch the bats as they emerge from under the bridge.
Here are some more important facts about bats. First, they are not dangerous. If you leave them alone, they will leave you alone. Second, a mother bat can locate her pup from a distance, by a sophisticated system called echolocation. She calls to her pup at a unique frequency and is able to locate her offspring by its echo. Thirdly, contrary to the expression — "Blind as a bat", bats are not blind.
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