We got lucky on Friday the 13th and had lovely weather for our education table at the Bat Viewing Area.
We shared the wonders of bats with scores of out-of-towners.
We so enjoyed meeting Sonia from Austria, Anne from France, Ali & Xav from Paris, and that group of impressive women in town for the Anthropology conference, from Virginia, Canada, the UK and Cyprus.
What fun!  Thanks for visiting with us y’all!

We hope the bats were as lucky as we were!  We at the Bat Viewing Area all watched on live radar as  a lovely Seabreeze pushed insects toward the Hill Country and the Bracken bats foraged along the front.  But then things changed.
The lovely Seabreeze turned into wicked storms from the northwest.  Davis Blowout, Huber Limestone Mine, McNeil Bridge, and Congress Bridge bats all appeared to have been caught out in the storms.  We hope they sheltered at McNeil to escape the worst of it.
Bats caught in hailstorms frequently experience broken wing bones from the hail.  Guess we’ll see how many bats are found by humans and brought to us today. Bless their brave little hearts!

 


The following is an article by Zeke MacCormack, a San Antonio Express-News staff writer:
Published in the San Antonio Express-News  April 5, 2018

Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from the Bracken Cave at dusk to foray for food on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. An estimated 20 million bats make Bracken Cave their home from March through November, making it the world's largest bat colony. MARVIN PFEIFFER/ mpfeiffer@express-news.net Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer, Staff / San Antonio Express-News / Express-News 2017

Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer, Staff / San Antonio Express-News
Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from the Bracken Cave at dusk to foray for food on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017.

 

In a double dose of troubling news, the fungus blamed for killing millions of East Coast bats since its discovery there in 2007 has been found in Central Texas and on a Mexican free-tailed bat — both firsts.

However, the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife announcement of those discoveries Wednesday noted that no Texas bats have been found exhibiting signs of the malady known as “white nose syndrome.”

“Biologists say it usually takes a few years after detecting the fungus for the disease to manifest,” said the release that identified four new Texas counties where Pseudogymnoascus destructans fungus had been found, bringing the total to 10.
It previously was found on cave bats, tri-colored bats and Townsend’s big-eared bats.

In the San Antonio region, the fungus was detected on bats at two sites in Kendall County and two sites in Blanco County.
Kendall County is now the southernmost location in the nation where researchers have discovered the fungus, which was first detected in Texas in 2017 in the Panhandle, officials said.
The deadly illness typically strikes hibernating bats, causing declines of winter populations by more than 90 percent in some locations.
So its presence in free-tailed bats, which migrate rather than hibernate, raises a new series of concerns.
“They migrate in huge populations all over the country so they could spread the disease much faster,” said Jonah Evans, a TPWD mammalogist
The Mexican free-tail bat carrying the fungus was found at the Old Tunnel State Park in Kendall County, he said.
Evans described researchers as shocked by the results of testing on skin swabs that were collected from bat wings and muzzles between December and last month by a coalition of biologists from Bat Conservation International, Texas A&M University’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and its Natural Resources Institute.

“We were disappointed to see that it had moved southward as fast as it has,” Evans said. “We all expected it would move around the state, but it’s kind of shocking to see it happen this fast.”
The recent testing also found the fungus on bats in Foard and Wheeler counties, in North Texas, officials said.
The TPWD release said, “Because bats usually produce just one offspring per year, researchers are concerned it could take many decades for some populations to recover from a major decline.”
A widespread outbreak of the deadly disease in free-tailed bats could hold financial implications for agricultural producers who rely on the winged mammals to eradicate insects that feed on their crops.

The estimated value of bat pest control is $1.4 billion annually in Texas, the TPWD release says.
“Mexican free-tailed bats are key predators of agricultural pests in Texas, primarily moths that feed on corn and cotton,” said Mylea Bayless of Bat Conservation International.
“Since white nose syndrome is a disease of hibernating bats, we’re cautiously optimistic that Mexican free-tailed bats — which don’t hibernate — will fare better than other species in terms of contracting the disease and experiencing mortality from it,” she said.
The free-tailed bat also is an iconic presence, she said, drawing visitors watch them emerge by the millions from Bracken Cave just north of San Antonio, the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin and other major colonies.

“This bat is special to Texas, which is one of the reasons that this news is particularly distressing,” Bayless said Wednesday.
Beyond trying to track the spread of the fungus, she said, “Bat conservation International is working with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and others to explore and test potential treatments for white nose syndrome.”

Zeke MacCormack is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | zeke@express-news.net | @zekemac


What a great illustration of a moth jamming a bat’s echolocation!
Illustration by Chris Tullar from Aaron Corcoran.
This is a great depiction of what goes on in our flight cage every night (albeit with different species)!

Bats have been echolocating for around 25 million years and moths have been evolving defenses against them for just as long.
A bat has to be at the top of its game to make a living out there.

moth jamming bat


Lots of Central Texas bat activity on a chilly evening. Devil’s Sinkhole, Old Tunnel, and Huber really show up strongly because of their more isolated locations.  Still a strong flight from Congress, so our newly released bats have plenty of company.


This beautiful cave myotis (Myotis velifer) was hanging motionless in the same location for four days in the corner of Cait’s balcony. She was worried about him and was kind enough to contain him and have us check him out.  He turned out to be just fine! We fed and hydrated him for a few days and released him tonight. Thanks for caring Cait!

Austin bat presentations, education, outreach, talks, programs


These two girls were rescued from separate Houston apartment complexes back in June. They’ve been with us all summer and have just now recovered their strength.  The one on the left was not flying well just two weeks ago, but last week started sustaining flight and had the red “no-go” tag removed (actually red lip gloss on the ear). They’ll be so happy to be in the soft-release box; they can stay there until they find a great new home!

Austin bat presentations talks programs education outreach rescue rehabilitation evening bats

Austin bat presentations education talks programs outreach


Latest research shows that 3 out of 4 Mexican free-tailed bats found in Saver’s Thrift Store prefer the Halloween department over other parts of the store.  Even though bats have nothing to do with Halloween 😉 , they nonetheless provided holiday ambience as they hung decoratively up with the fake cobwebs up in the ceiling! The other was recovered from over the cash register area, so perhaps the last one was making sure they got paid for their advertising efforts!

They all were fine, just wondering why Savers keeps inviting them into the store and then freaking out about it. Humans!

Here are three of the four a few days later, ready to be released under Congress Avenue Bridge, as soon as F1 takes down the fences for their party at the bat-viewing area.
Austin bat presentations, talks, outreach, programs, education, Mexican free-tailed bat, Congress Avenue Bridge bats

While they were resting up for their release, an immature Texas rat snake curled up under the roof tarp to stay dry and bask.  He was within a few inches of one of the boys and would have had him for lunch but for the netting in between them. Watch out you valiant little bats!

Here’s the rat snake getting relocated a few miles down the creek.

Here they are finally getting released at Congress Avenue Bridge after their circuitous adventure!
Austin bat presentations, education, outreach, talks, programs, rescue, rehabilitation
Austin bat presentations, outreach, programs, education, talks


A recent episode of Rick Steves Europe titled “Greece’s Peloponnese” included Epidavros, the Greek healing center where doctor-priests performed the work of Esclepios, the Greek god of medicine. This center served Greeks from ~400 BC to 426 AD.

When demonstrating the acoustics of the 12,000 seat amphitheater that entertained those who traveled there for healing, Steves gave a speech meant to sound as if delivered by an ancient Greek: “Friends, Greeks, wayfarers, in these times of discord, fear is rampant in our society.  I contend that the flip-side of fear is understanding, and those who travel reap great understanding by meeting people who hold OTHER truths to be self-evident and God-given.”

We love this about Rick Steves and we wish that we could travel more to experience the truths of other cultures.  We hope that one day we can do so, but in the meantime, we get to have travelers come to us as we staff the information table at the Congress Avenue Bridge Bat Viewing Area.  Thanks so much to all the intrepid travelers who took the time to write in our Bat Journal!

In the future we’ll make a point of asking more about THEIR lives. Much as we love to have them log their impressions of the Austin bats, we want them to share THEIR truths and gain some insight into the way THEY see the world!

Congress Avenue Bridge, Congress Bridge bats, Austin bat education, outreach, programs, presentations, talks

 


Our former neo-nate D-Day had his big night last night!  He and all his classmates joined the Congress bat colony, in plenty of time to integrate prior to their migration south in a few weeks to come. So thrilling to watch them go!

D-Day was found on June 6th as a newborn pup clinging to the top of the bridge with just his feet and tail sticking up under the railing.
Dianne rescued him and hand-raised him and his free-tailed classmates from little specks, so tonight was emotional, as the end of their captive upbringing and the beginning of their new life as part of the wild Congress Avenue Bridge colony! Go with the bat gods, with the wind, with your guts, little pups!

 

Danielle O’Neil’s great photo of D-Day at 3 weeks:

Congress Ave. Bridge Bats, bat rehabilitation, bat education, bat presentations, bat programs, bat educational outreach, Congress Avenue Bridge, Congress Ave Bridge Bats

austin bat presentations talks outreach education programs presentations Congress Avenue Bridge bats

Just to train them correctly, we waited until all the tourists left before releasing them from the top of the grassy slope of the bat viewing area ;). (It seems the Congress colony waited to emerge until the crowd of tuna boats, kayaks, LED lights, and red lights went away, before they emerged.) So our pups will learn from the best!  That means, of course, that our pup also did not cooperate with the paparazzi, so no videos or photos of the release! Good bats! This photo from the flight cage earlier in the season.

People from Poland, France, and Alaska all came to see the emergence last night!  We love having our information table at the bridge to help inform the tourists about the bats.

 


Love you little bat!  Go have a happy happy life!

Here’s a last look at you pre-release

You look so good up there! Look at all those quick darting moves! Are you showing us how happy you are to be wild and free?