This is one of the best sites on Texas Bats.
It has been set up by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department working with
Texas Tech University.
Texas Bat Emergence Viewing Sites
Texas is home to some of the largest Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) colonies in North America.
Many of these sites have become popular tourist destinations as the bats emerge in awe-inspiring numbers each summer.
Below is a list of all the different places you can see bat emergences in Texas.
Bracken Cave
Type: Maternity colony; 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats
Note: Not open to public; open only to BCI members by reservation
Type: Non-maternity colony; half million Mexican free-tailed bats.
Note: This site is located on the Caprock Canyons Trailway. Visitors can ride mountain bikes, hike or horseback to the Tunnel along the Trailway. This is about 10 miles round trip along the old railway.
Ownership: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
Cost: $2 per person (park entry fee)
Reservations: Reservations are only necessary for special group tours
Type: Maternity colony; 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats
Ownership: City of Austin
Cost: Free
Reservations: Reservations not taken
Hours of Operation: Open year-round; BCI interpreters available to answer questions in the summer on Thursdays through Sundays.
Contact: Free viewing: Austin American-Statesman/Bat Conservation International Bat Hot Line (512) 416-5700 (category 3636) Viewing by tour boat: Capital Cruises (512) 480-9264, www.capitalcruises.com OR Lone Star Riverboats (512) 327-1388, www.lonestarriverboat.com
Devil's Sinkhole SNA
Type: Non-maternity colony; 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats
Ownership: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
Cost: Adults are $10; Over 65 are $8; Kids 4 to 11 are $6; Kids under 4 are free
Reservations: Reservations must be made in advance
Hours of Operation: Visitor's Center open 7 days a week from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm; Bat-viewing tours and presentations given Wednesdays thru Sundays from April to October by reservation.
Type: Pseudomaternity colony: where pregnant females roost but do not give birth to young; 1 to 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats and 3,000 Cave myotis
Ownership: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
Cost: Lower Viewing Area - Adults are $5; Seniors are $3; Kids 6 to 16 are $2; Kids 5 and under are free Upper Viewing Area - free
Reservations: Reservations not accepted, except for special group reservations
Hours of Operation: Upper viewing area open 7 nights a week; Lower Viewing Area open Thursdays thru Sundays from 1 hour before emergence to 10 pm
Type: Colony of at least half million Mexican free-tailed bats
Ownership: City of Houston
Cost: Free
Reservations: no reservations are necessary
Hours of Operation: Open year-round; Houston Bat Team interpreters available to answer questions on the third Friday of every month
Contact: Diana Foss, TPWD Urban Biologist- Houston 281-456-7029 or check the Buffalo Bayou Partnership website at www.buffalobayou.org
Texas Bats Come Home to Roost (February, 1931)
This article from the February 1931 Modern Mechanics magazine outlines the activities of Dr. Charles A. R. Cambell of San Antonio, Texas.
In 1925 he wrote his book Bats, Mosquitoes and Dollars discussing the importance of Texas bats.
American Bat Bombs
Bat bombs were tiny incendiary bombs attached to bats that were developed by the United States during World War II with the hope of attacking mainland Japan.
Four biological factors gave promise to this plan. First, bats occur in large numbers (four caves in Texas are each occupied by several million bats).
Second, bats can carry more than their own weight in flight (females carry their young — sometimes twins).
Third, bats hibernate, and while dormant they do not require food or complicated maintenance.
Fourth, bats fly in darkness, and then find secretive places (such as flammable buildings) to hide during daylight.
The plan was to release bomb-laden bats at night over Japanese industrial targets.
The flying bats would disperse widely, then at dawn they would hide in buildings and shortly thereafter built-in timers would ignite the bombs, causing widespread fires and chaos.
Dental surgeon Lytle S. Adams, who submitted it to the White House in January 1942, conceived the bat bomb idea. The plan was subsequently approved by President Roosevelt.
Adams was recruited to research and obtain a suitable supply of bats.