It is a myth that bats are terrifying creatures of the night that fly into your hair and suck your blood. In fact, the majority of bats are gentle, beneficial creatures, biologically more akin to humans than rodents. Just ask the inhabitants of Austin, Texas. The Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge spans Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin. Pedestrians, bicyclists and cars use it to cross from one of town to the other.

Meanwhile, between mid-March and October, in the bowels of the bridge, up to 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) slumber, waiting for sunset when they can get begin their exodus across the Austin evening sky seeking out their evening meal. The bats, which constitute the largest urban bat colony in North America, began to congregate inside the bridge after it underwent structural changes in the 1980s that unintentionally created narrow crevices in the substructure.

At first the people of Austin were dismayed by the presence of these seasonal visitors; however, it soon became common knowledge that these little creatures were highly beneficial, consuming between 10,000 and 30,000 lbs of insects each night — equivalent to between 2 and 7 million bugs per year! Today, Austin is fiercely protective of its bats, even holding an annual Bat Fest to raise money to benefit Bat Conservation International.

The bat colony is a nursery — this is where the female bats come to give birth to one pup a year and where they stay until the pups are old enough to return to Mexico. Unfortunately, bats are amongst the slowest reproducing mammals on earth for their size and are endangered in many parts of the world because of pesticide use.

The bats begin to leave the bridge between 2000 and 2030, and it can take up to an hour for all of them to exit the structure. They emerge, first as a few wisps then gradually, like a black cloud of smoke from the crevices under the bridge. The largest numbers of bats can be seen in August when the young pups begin to fly solo.

If you happen to be walking across the Congress Bridge during the day, listen carefully and you will hear the chittering of over a million bats beneath your feet. The bat exodus can be viewed from the banks of Lady Bird Lake, including from the grounds of the Austin-American Statesman Building on the southeast corner of Congress Avenue; from the sidewalks along Congress Bridge; on bicycles and Segways, as well as on cruise boats or in kayaks from the water.

IF YOU GO
Best viewing options for seeing the bats from the WATER are Capital Cruises Bat-watching Tours which leave from the dock at the Hyatt Regency Hotel (208 Barton Springs Road; www.capitalcruises.com) Reservations are required and spaces fill up quickly.

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