The bat emergence at Bracken Cave, just 20 miles outside of San Antonio. Cinematographers Austin Alvarado and Ryan Olinger capture the event on camera both above and at the mouth of the cave. Bracken Cave is home to approximately 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats in the summer, the largest known congregation of mammals in the world.
DEEP IN THE HEART Behind the Scenes of a Wildlife Film Production Article by KATY BALDOCK Photos courtesy of DEEP IN THE HEART FILM
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s I stood at the mouth of Bracken Cave, I watched in awe as millions of Mexican free-tailed bats began to stir in preparation for their nightly emergence. From a distance, the inside of the cave looked mostly black, like charred rock. Up close, however, it became clear that the solid dark coat was formed by a congregation of bats clinging to the pale limestone walls—huddled close together and stuffed into the nooks and crannies of the rock. As the sun sank lower, they began to stretch their wings and crawl around, gearing up for the night’s activities. Some fluttered around the opening of the cave, eager to begin their nightly dinner-out venture. I moved back up to the observation deck above the cave before the emergence began to get a good view and to avoid getting caught in the middle of a bat tornado. Then, starting as a small trickle and quickly escalating to a steady-flowing river, the emergence arrived in full force. As they flooded out of the cave and into the evening sky, the millions of Mexican free-tailed bats generated a wind strong enough to brush back my hair. Closing my eyes and cupping a
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hand behind my ear, I could hear the impressive sound of their collective wings flapping frantically. After exiting the cave and making a couple tornado-like rotations, the bats trailed off as a steady stream over the treetops, making their way to their nightly feast of insects. They would return to the cave the following morning. This was July 2020 and my first time watching the bat emergence at Bracken Cave, the world’s largest known summer bat colony—and largest congregation of mammals—just outside of San Antonio. It was a nearly indescribable wildlife encounter I will never forget. Following that first viewing experience, I returned a few more times over the next couple of weeks to observe and extensively photograph the unique wildlife action at Bracken Cave. It was a truly unique opportunity I was fortunate to experience as one of the producers for an upcoming film called “Deep in the Heart.” Working on this production has also taken me into the dense South Texas brush in search of endangered ocelots. It sent me trekking through the lush longleaf pine forests and muddy cypress sloughs of East Texas for the first time despite growing
