Bat Appreciation Day and the Austin Bats
Today is Bat Appreciation Day! Since KingsIsle is located in Austin, Texas, home to the world’s largest urban bat colony, we had to take advantage of this fun holiday to tell players a little bit about the unique town we call home. One of the most interesting and unique attractions Austin has to offer is its very own bat colony!
While there are a few locations where the Austin bats live, the biggest population is right in downtown Austin, under the Congress Avenue Bridge. This bridge crosses over a reservoir of the Colorado River that runs through downtown, called Lady Bird Lake and named after former United States First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. Lady Bird Lake is a hotspot in the city for kayaking & paddle boarding, as well as running & walking the “hike and bike trail” that surrounds it, and watching the bats emerge on summer nights!
Photo by 365ThingsAustin
When the warmer months of the year roll around, 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats migrate from central Mexico to underneath the bridge, where they can be heard chattering during the day. Every night from March to November, just around dusk, the bats take flight by the thousands, providing the city with a unique and breathtaking tourist attraction.
Photo by Riny
When the bats first arrived to the Congress Bridge upon the completion of its renovations in 1980, the people of Austin were not pleased with their presence. Many citizens petitioned to have them removed, fearing the worst from the stereotypically dangerous animals. But with a little bit of research, it was clear that the bats were gentle creatures and did not pose a threat to humans if they didn’t try to touch them. So, they stayed! And since then, every summer night, the bats rid the city of up to 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of insects during their flight.
Photo taken by Leala of the bats in Round Rock!
Annually, more than 100,000 people head out to the Austin American Statesman Bat Observation center just off of the bridge to witness the bats’ nightly flight. Have you ever had the chance to see them? Tell us about some unique things in your town in the comments! 🙂
KingsIsle Blog 
Rawr i’m a bat
Best Group Rap and Freestyle Vines 2015 (MMM)
lol
thanks permanent bat wings 🙂
Where? lol
yea they’re really cool
how
o.m.g i love bats so love bats so so much
how did you get the mount??
yep how do u get the mouth?
oh wow never knew we could get codes from here too, got 7 day btw.
I am a BATMAN don’t you see me in the pic? hahahahaha!
Something unique about my town is that every month we have a dog party
In my town, there are many haunted houses ( Live down the street from one )
haha
my town to small to have much but i think bats are cool
i never knew that but where i am from it is just country and music can guess where i live
can you guess
somewhere on planet earth?
Nashville?
Atlanta?
I live in Vegas and see bats fly over all the time. I love them!
My town has a Melon Festival every year. It is a small town, but that doesn’t stop us from having the event annually. And Someone said there was a code? I don’t see a code?
The bats are good for the city, but they need to clean up under the bridges. I use to use the hike and bike trail and under the bridges stink from the bat droppings. It’s not dangerous. Just stinks.
~Keep Austin weird~
I have bats that come at night to my backyard. They keep the bug population under control ’round here. They are always welcome.
My town in florida, is surrounded by the ocean and the river! We have lots of orange groves and gators and bobcats and racoons that live here! Infact, a bobcat went on the beach and caught a shark recently! I live right around where that happened, it was on the news!
Im Dracula the bat 😀
Cool, I wish I could see it in person
This is so cool! I’ve never seen a bat in person, where I live. BTW, someone said there was a bat wings code? Where? XD
Where I live we have a River Festival. Everyone dresses up in weird clothes (One person came covered in car tires) and we make rafts to race down the river.
A bug free city, maybe my town needs more bats because we have more mosquitos than people. You could say those bugs drive me batty. XD LOL
In my city we have the Alamo. Texas pride!
i love bats sometimes they freak me out but i still love them. bats are a really cool animal!
my town just got a minor league baseball team
Nice read! We also have a “bat cave” in one of our provinces
i had a bat in my home got it to go out the front door.
Here in Europe a few species of bats are protected by law! In Poland, where I live, the bats don’t usually populate the cities such as mine. Nevertheless they can be found in big numbers in many mountain caves and even in the medieval castles’ ruins or underground tunells, either made by human beings or created by nature. To my mind the bats are fascinating creatures and I thank you all at KI in Austin, Texas, ladies and gentlemen, for this interesting article! Greets, W101 fan 🙂
This is so COOL! omg i wish i was in Texas so I can see this!
Where I live we have “Eagle Days” in January. That’s when hundreds of eagles congregate on the river near the lock and dam where the water is warmer and fish are plentiful. It’s amazing to watch the eagles dive and pluck fish out of the river. If I had to choose between watching eagles or bats, I’m afraid I’d have to choose the eagles every time! Lol
wow this is quite cool
bats are really amazing creatures.
we kept finding dead bats in the attics and upper floors of buildings in our downtown area
Dang, I wish I had bats to eat all of the nightbugs in my area.
My area is historic. That’s mainly just my state, though.
Bats are cool.
Lol, Got one day bat wings. (My name is Amber Raincloud) 🙂
I live in Spring Texas, and remember the first time when I was a kid going to Austin,and saw the
Flight Of The Bats.
A sight I never forgot, and cannot describe. It’s a sight one can only experience unless there in person.
Thanks for bringing back some early wonderful childhood memories.
We have a Science Center called Turtle Point in our little town that has a nature walk. On this walk, you can view wildlife in its raw nature … even bats 🙂 Turtle Point also has its on bee colony! I love the bats on the nature walk, but it’s nothing like the photos of beautiful Austin. I hope to visit sometime! Bats are so amazing … hence why I am a death character 🙂
Wow, I Really Enjoy reading this one Guys, Its Awesome knowing such a thing takes place, its so Alien for someone in New Jersey to think of As many Bats as Birds Lol,
this Worlds truly Amazing its Crazy 🌎❗️
Great Blog Today, Like learning new culture Big part why i Like your Games, But no Culture do i enjoy learning more of Then #Kingsisle Culture 🙂
hey i live in san antonio texas, and yes austin is a great places for bat and it really cool! 😀
love bat never seen one irl i think i have seen one at the zoo 😀
love bats
Wow! This is so unique!
I find bats kinda creepy but I love that they eat bugs so I like to see them around 🙂
My town has a Fair and Races day with Chariot Races.
i like bats
I used to live in Austin and a very beatiful city. The bats were one of my favorite things to do there. Keep Austin weird!
I am a school teacher in New Mexico, and we did a unit about your bat population last year!
I know bats are sensible to sun light but do they really die if they are exposed? Asking because I live in Phoenix, AZ and one time I went to one of the parks called Encanto Park and in one of the trees during the day I saw a dead bat.
Maybe it was batman’s bat
I love bats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
I love bats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀 XD
BATS BATS BATS