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The big tourist thing to do is go see the Mexican Free tail bats on South Congress and it is really worth checking out at least once. It has become so popular that on any given night 40-75 people eagerly await the "Bat Show". About 1.5 million Mexican free tail bats leave from under the Congress Street Bridge every day from Mid March through November. When I have seen them it is pretty close to dark or right at dark, so don't show up too early or you will be waiting for a while..
Boat tours are available through Lone Star Riverboat 512-327-1388 and Capital Cruises 512-480-9264 for about $8.00 per person. Both are located behind the Hyatt Hotel on townlake. Leave a Comment
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Considered to be the largest urban bat colony in North American, the Congress Avenue bridge, located in downtown Austin, is the spring & summer home to an estimated 750,000 bats with a peak of 1.5 million during bat-watching season.
Bats have called Austin home for many years; however, it wasn’t until the completion of renovations to the Congress Avenue bridge in 1980 that they began to nest there on a permanent basis. Narrow but deep crevices in the bridge became perfect accommodations for the animals.
The flight of the bats occur each evening around sunset. From under the bridge the bats emerge like a dark, black cloud from the tiny holes of the bridge. Covering the countryside in search of food, it is estimated that the bats consume more than 10,000 pounds of insects.
Giving birth in either June or July, the bats & their pups remain under the bridge until roughly October when they head back south.
Standing on top of the bridge, the bats emerge pretty much without warning. The exit from the crevices in an orderly fashion & remain in a file of approximately six or seven per row as they make their way across the Colorado River into the countryside. There are only a few who tend to break ranks, eating all the insects in the immediate area as they just simply fly around. Some are just as curious of the human onlookers as we are of them, forcing one or two brave ones to venture close to the railings where scores upon scores of people stand. Leave a Comment Address: Congress Ave. BridgeDirections: Colorado River
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 Bats flying over the bridge at
sunset by JefieLeave a Comment Address: Congress Avenue BridgePhone: 512-416-5700 #3636 (bat hotline)Directions: Town Lake, Austin
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 by Texascowgirl
And that's how the Austin ice-hockey team gets its name - the Ice Bats. Texas and ice hockey? Yeah, I know.
On a closing note, remember that it's statistically safer to put up a bat house than it is to own a dog or plant flowers (hey, that's what the website said, and we all know we should believe everything we read) Leave a Comment
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 Look at these idiots (JK) by Jmill42Leave a Comment
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 by Djinn76
In the early 1980s, modifications to the bridge started to attract these Mexican free-tailed bats. They are now estimated to 1.5 million bats.
If you prefer being far from the cloud, I’ve also been told there was another “bat bridge” in the north of the city along MacNeil Road (when crossing Mopac if I remember correctly) Leave a Comment
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 Mexican Free-Tail Bats at
Congress Ave. Bridge by VeronicaG, 1 more photos
Nestled within the expansion joints of the bridge, millions of Mexican free-tailed bats have created a 'maternity' center. A nursery for bats, so to speak. Although males are a minority, they are still present in this colony.
Austin has educated itself to see the bats as making a positive contribution to the city, rather than a negative. Bats can eat hundreds and hundreds of pounds of mosquitos and other annoying pests each day. They also provide guano--a potent fertilizer-- which drops into Lady Bird Lake, creating lush greenery along its banks.
There are two 'bat cruises' plying Lady Bird Lake: Capital Cruises and Lonestar Riverboat Cruises. See following tip...
Interesting Facts: Our guide informed us that unlike birds, bats do not glide but instead have to flap their wings at all times. This particular type weighs about the same as three nickles. They are not blind as we have all been led to think, but can see colors with the exception of red. These small mammals can fly up to 10,000 feet, but generally like to fly over the tree tops for protection. Address: Congress Avenue, Austin, TxDirections: Congress Avenue Bridge or Lady Bird Lake
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 by klasher |
 by keeweechic
Austin is supposed to be home ot the largest urban bat colony in North America. Leave a Comment Address: Town Lake
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 by Djinn76Leave a Comment
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