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Austin's famous
bats. |
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Those
Famous Bats |
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When engineers reconstructed downtown Austin's Congress Avenue
Bridge in 1980, they had no idea that new crevices beneath the
bridge would make an ideal bat roost. Although bats had lived
there for years, it was headline news when they suddenly began
moving in by the thousands. Reacting in fear, many people petitioned
to have the bat colony eradicated.
About that time, Bat
Conservation International (BCI) stepped in and told
Austinites the surprising truth: that bats are gentle and incredibly
sophisticated animals, that bat-watchers have nothing to fear
if they don't try to handle bats, and that the bats eat from
10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects nightly.
As the city came to appreciate its bats, the population under
the Congress Avenue Bridge grew to be the largest urban bat
colony in North America. With up to 1.5 million bats spiraling
into the summer skies, Austin now has one of the most unusual
and fascinating tourist attractions anywhere. |
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