Austin, Texas has plenty to offer both its citizens and
visitors to be sure, but, perhaps, the most unusual thing it offers is the
comings and goings taking place underneath the Congress Avenue Bridge. In fact, during certain times of the year,
there are literally millions of comings and goings taking place each and every
night. And the culprits behind all this
nightly activity are bats, Mexican free-tailed bats, who make up one very large
bat colony.
Mexican free-tailed bats are no strangers to Texas or to
Austin in particular, but when Austin’s historic Congress Avenue Bridge was
modernized in 1980, the redesign required spaces to be built underneath the bridge
infrastructure which allowed for expansion and contraction. It is in these spaces that bats have found a
place to call home, when they are away from their other home in Mexico.Spanning Austin’s Lady Bird Lake, the official name of the Congress Avenue Bridge is actually the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, named in honor of the outspoken former Texas state treasurer and governor. Most people still refer to the bridge as just the “Congress Avenue Bridge,” in much the same way that a lot of renamed roads, bridges, and buildings across the country have never caught on with a new name. But, if a new name didn’t catch on, new digs for millions of bats did, and the rest is history.
The bats that inhabit the bridge are almost exclusively
female, and make it their home during the summer months when they give birth to
their pups. At dusk, the bats take off
en masse to spend the night consuming vast quantities of bugs down the lower
stretches of the Colorado River. And
when they take flight, they provide quite a spectacle for those on or near the
bridge. During the times when the bats
are flying, spectators line the top of the bridge, the Austin-American
Statesman property, or, watch from open air restaurants which line the
lake. Another popular way to see the
bats is to take a boat out underneath the bridge. If you don’t have your own boat, you can
easily purchase a seat on one of the commercial bat excursion boats that tie up
just below the Austin Hyatt Regency.
My preferred method for watching bats has always been the
commercial boats, and for a couple good reasons. When the bats are flying, there is no better
place to be than directly under the bridge. As these unique winged mammals
emerge, the view of them pouring out of the bridge against the backdrop of the
darkening sky is simply amazing. Viewers
looking down from the bridge don’t see such a spectacular view.
But, there is another good reason to be in a boat. The bats are not always cooperative. On some nights, the bats, for whatever reason
don’t explode into the sky. Instead,
they stay hunkered down deep within their protective holes in the bridge. People, who stand for hours on the bridge,
or, at other venues along the lake, have nothing to show for their troubles
except disappointment. This is not as
true on a commercial boat. Prior to the
estimated launch time of the bats, the tour boat operators take their
passengers on a nice leisurely cruise up Lady Bird Lake. In the process, passengers (many holding
their favorite adult beverage) enjoy viewing a beautiful sunset over the lake, rowing
teams in action, a beautiful view of the Austin skyline, and, even the statue
of Stevie Ray Vaughn. So, even if the
bats don’t come out in force, those taking the bat boat excursions end up with
an enjoyable, or at least an inebriated, evening.
Several weeks ago, I once again decided to go see the bats. Accompanying a friend on her first trip to
Austin, we purchased a couple of boat tickets and enjoyed the pre-bat cruise on
Lady Bird Lake just as the sun was setting.
After the lake cruise, and just before we approached Congress Bridge to
see the bats, we began getting certain disturbing signals from our so-called
“Captain,” who looked like he was not a day over 16. The long and short of it was that the bats
had not been too active recently, so, it might not be a good night to view bats
after all. Of course, nothing of the
sort was mentioned prior to the ticket money being exchanged on the dock. It must have slipped the “Captain’s” mind.
True to his word, the bat experience was underwhelming, although, we did see
many thousands of bats emerge out from under the bridge. That may seem like a lot, but not if you are
expecting to see a million.
There is always a silver lining to every cloud it seems. Just as all the spectators were about to take
leave, a man suddenly leaped from the bridge, arms spread wide as if in flight,
and plunged into Lady Bird Lake. It
seems that a “Batman” had arrived just in time to try and save the
evening. The crowd cheered as the “Batman’s”
head suddenly appeared above the dark waters.
The man, no doubt having spent the last several hours imbibing in one or more of
Austin’s famed Sixth Street drinking establishments, had apparently gotten his superheroes confused. It is Superman who can fly and “leap tall
buildings in a single bound,” not Batman.
Heck, even I know that. I also know that "Batman" did his part in continuing to "Keep Austin Weird."