Bats in Austin TX

It happened accidentally but now it's there to stay.

While renovating Congress Avenue Bridge, the workers made some deep expansion slots. Little did they know that bats would discover this place, and love it. It's safe for breeding, thus a very desirable place for Mexican free-tailed bats.

When huge numbers of bats began to haunt the reconstructed Congress Avenue Bridge, concerned citizens petitioned to have them eradicated.
But then Bat Conservation International intervened and, for ecological and tourist-attraction reasons, the colony became permanent.
Now bats fly out at every sunset and people flock to see them. The citizens seem quite happy with the arrangement and you can see some of them wearing a sign that reads "Ask me about bats".

At the peak of the season (autumn) there are 1.5 million bats living in that bridge alone.

You can see the emergence times and other useful bat-watching information here.

This single urban bat colony brings Austin 10 million dollars each year, as a tourist attraction.
They also patrol the area, hunting and eating insects, including 15 tons of of corn earworm moths a night, thus the agriculture benefits as well.

If you had a bat house in your yard, you wouldn't have to worry about mosquitoes and other flying bugs. Wouldn't that be nice?
Besides, you could teach all your friends that bats aren't dangerous or creepy, they're in fact wonderful creatures (not to be touched, though, as any wild animals), and keeping them is ecology-friendly.

Austin locals, especially kids, have come to love their bats. They come to see them many times - that's free entertainment!