LIFESTYLE AUTHOR
Monica Hand
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BAT CITY n How Austin went from anti-bat to the famous Bat City.
T
he Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge is home to the largest urban colony of Mexican free-tailed bats who, in the warmer months, become a spectacled, flying frenzy. Watching those bats fly out from under the bridge at dusk is a cherished tradition by tourists and locals alike, and these days, the bats are some of Austin’s most treasured residents. However, it wasn’t always that way, as what was once considered a nuisance to the public has now become one of Austin’s calling cards and biggest drivers of nature-centered tourism. The bats had always been in the Central Texas area, with the largest Mexican free-tailed bat colony on the outskirts of San Antonio at Bracken Cave. This collective population of bats is known to spend its winters in Mexico and then migrate north to spend its summers throughout Central Texas’ limestone caves. So, the city of Austin had been battling what it labeled as “pests” since its founding in 1839. What brought them to the bridge was purely a case of accidental, architectural genius in 1980. “People always ask why they aren’t under all the other bridges,” D.J. Cornwell, longtime bat tour guide of Lone Star Riverboat, says. “It’s because of the expansion gaps. They’re about two inches wide, two feet deep — the perfect bat roost.” Within those crannies of the bridge’s underbelly, the humidity and temperature conditions are perfect for bat pups (bat newborns), so each spring and summer the expecting female bats set up shop. That’s why in the
MARCH 2021
22
