I like bats.
So much so that I have a special bat roost box attached to my wooden two-car garage.
So much so that I have traveled many miles around Texas to see these beneficial little mammals. Of the eight main locations of major bat colonies, I have visited five — Bracken Cave, Devil’s Sinkhole State Natural Area, Eckert James River Bat Cave, Frio Cave and Old Tunnel Wildlife Management Area.
Devil’s Sinkhole was probably my favorite; the bats came out like a black tornado and soaring hawks picked off one or two bats for an evening snack. This cave is located near Rocksprings and is about 150 feet deep.
I have yet to see the bats at Austin’s Congress Avenue Bridge, Clarity Tunnel or Stuart Bat Cave. But I have seen the cave with the most bats — Bracken. Located just outside San Antonio, Bracken Cave is home to some 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats, the world’s largest community of mammals. Mexican free-tailed bats are the most common species in Texas, but we also have 31 other species, including ghostfaced, silver-haired and spotted.
Bracken’s bats consume more than 200 tons of pesky insects, including mosquitoes, every night during the spring and summer. When the weather turns cold around November, they depart and spend the winter in caves in Mexico.
Mother bats generally give birth to only one pup each year, often in the month of June. Male bats don’t help raise the babies and stay in separate all-male colonies away from the nursing females.
At Bracken, there are about 500 pups per square foot and mothers distinguish their babies by sense of smell and the pup’s call.
Bracken is owned by Bat Conservation International in Austin and only BCI members can visit the cave. Reservations are required and most activities are currently on hold due to the pandemic.
