After a day of rest and avoiding the heat, we ventured out this evening for a one-of-a-kind experience. As it turns out, Austin is home to the world's largest urban colony of Mexican free-tailed bats. How big? 1.5 million bats! They live under the Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin.
We arrived on the bridge just as the sun set. Crowds of people gather each night from March to November. Some gather on a grassy area under the bridge on the edge on the lake. Others sit in tour boats on the lake. Many like us lined the bridge and waited until the bats decided it was time to fly.
Shortly before dark, they began to take off. The take-off lasted more than 10 minutes as the bats swirled around and then set a course for dinner. During the night, these bats will consume 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of mosquitos. Hooray for bats.
It was amazing how, by the thousands, they swirled through the sky. It was awesome. It didn't take too long for the light to fade making photos impossible, so we tucked the cameras away and headed for the car. Little did we know that the show wasn't quite over. As the crowd dispersed, one man wearing a sheer red miniskirt with a g-string was reminding folks to be sure to turn on their car lights. I'm adding that to my list of reasons why I don't live in Texas.
Tomorrow, we will leave here and head to Mississippi. More fun to come!
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