Spanglish Accent: Congress Bridge Bats

We have been going to visit my parents in Austin for years now. And each and every year we say that we were going to finally go see the famous Austin Bats. It only took us six years but we finally did it.

Do you think we are a bit batty for wanting to go watch a bunch of bats? Maybe a bit of background is needed to explain to those that are not from the area.

A bit over 30 years ago, the Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin was redesigned. Little did the engineers know that the new design, with its narrow but deep crevices on the underside, would be the ideal roosting place for bats. Always a home to a couple of thousand Mexican Fruit bats, it was now the perfect home. Word spread quickly among the bat community and they started moving in by the thousands. Today, it is the largest urban colony of bats in all of North America.

All well and good but why would we want to go watch a bunch of bats hang out under a bridge?

Because they don't just hang around by their feet all day. Well, actually, they do. But at sunset it's a different story. As the sun goes down over Lady Bird Lake the bats emerge from their roost on a search for food. Which in this case is about 20-30,000 pounds of insects. Every single night. Their trek makes for a spectacular sight as the bats swirl through the evening sky.

Now that sounds pretty cool.

And it was.

We booked the sunset cruise (up close and personal is the only way to go) for early July. It's the best time to see the bats because the new babies, born in June, are just starting to take flight for the first time. We got to our boat in time to get prime front row seats, under the cover. The cover is most important because when the bats take flight, they also tend to take a poop. You want to be under cover when this happens and they are flying directly over you.

We headed off on a quick tour of the lake. We saw a spectacular sunset beginning and got into position to wait and watch the first bats peek their heads out. It started slowly. Perhaps 100 bats coming out and then a few seconds later a 100 more. Then all of a sudden there was a steady stream as thousands of bats snaked through the sky. Oddly enough they all followed the same line - making the same zig zag pattern as they headed off into the horizon.

It was truly impressive. And one of those things I never thought I would do, but am so glad I did.