Who: Bob, Peng, Sandra and I

Subject: Bat-watching at the Austin Congress Avenue Bridge

Time: Aug 21, 2001. 7:30-9:00PM

What: Central Texas is home for Mexican Free-tailed Bats

Austin is known for its Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis). More than 1 million Mexican free-tailed bats call Austin's Congress Avenue Bridge "home." While in residence each year, these bats provide a valuable service to Central Texas by consuming more than 4 million pounds of insects.

Each spring, free-tailed bats migrate from central Mexico to roosting sites throughout the southwestern United States. By mid-March, hundreds of thousands of mother bats arrive in Austin. In early June, each one gives birth to a single baby, called a pup.

Babies weigh one-third as much as their mothers at birth -- the equivalent of a human mother giving birth to a 40-pound baby! Nursing mothers consume their body weight in insects nightly, including vast numbers of yard and garden pests, from moths to mosquitoes. Depending on the season and colony size, these bats consume between 10,000 and 30,000 pounds of insects nightly!

Here are some pictures in the memory of this nice trip. For more information about Austin bats watching, you can visit: http://www.austin360.com/events/special/bats.html

         
Peng Xu, on her 2nd day in the States Sandra Huang

Page Created by Lei Wang, Aug 2001