Bats

"The Bat" -by Ogden Nash

Myself, I rather like the bat.
It's not a mouse, it's not a rat.
It has no feathers, yet has wings.
It's quite inaudible when it sings,
It zig zags through the evening air
And never lands on ladies hair,
A fact of which men spend their lives,
Attempting to convince their wives.

Austin is known for its Mexican-freetailed bat colony under the Congress bridge. We too, have a colony living underneath the I-35 bridge. In fact, it has been said that our colony will soon be larger than the Congress colony! These bats nest and roost underneath the bridge during the day, and leave at sunset to go feed on insects east of the city. People gather every night to see the exodus of bats emerging for the evening. These pictures don't do the experience justice. As you can imagine, there is a strong smell around the bridge....and the sound of those bats! You hear a loud, high pitched, oscillating squeak sound. (does that make sense?...probably not.)
Anyway, I enjoyed sitting around, visiting with the out-of-towners about fire ants & guano before snapping my pics.

















I had to throw in a picture of a big Texas sunset from this evening.