Austin's Other Bats

Austin is famous for its "Bat Bridge," the Congress Street Bridge over Lady Bird Lake that houses the largest urban bat colony in the world. On any given evening in the summer, you can find hundreds, even thousands of people standing on and around the bridge to watch the nearly 1 million Mexican free-tailed bats leave their roost in a great bat cloud. It's an impressive sight.

But few people are aware that downtown Austin is home to several other, smaller bat colonies. I recently discovered one by complete accident. I was walking at dusk, west on 15th Street between Trinity and San Jacinto (we were coming from Waterloo Park), on the south side of 15th along the 1401 San Jacinto parking garage, when I noticed a bat flying surprisingly low along the side of the garage. Then I saw another bat, and another, both flying really low (I'm 5'10", and they were at about my head level). I took a few more steps, when I suddenly realized that there was a steady stream of bats coming from the parking garage, all flying directly at my head and only swerving away at the last moment. This was initially disorienting, as everywhere I turned I saw another bat or group of bats flying right towards or around my head. So it took me a few seconds to realize that I was standing next to a small bat colony, housed in a one-inch gap between the parking garage's main wall and its façade. The bats had begun leaving for the evening at the very moment I was walking by, and I was just feet away from their exit. After a minute or two I got up the courage to run through the now steady stream of bats, and then watched them flow out for a few more minutes before continuing on.

I've now passed that spot several times just before dusk, and each time I've stopped to listen to the bats chirping. If you look closely, you can even see a few of the bats hanging behind the façade. It's really pretty cool. And in hindsight, I should have known that there were bats living in that spot. I had walked past it dozens of times during the winter (when the bats are in Mexico), and either earlier or later in the day during the summer (when they're sleeping, so I should have noticed the bat guano covering the parking garage's wall, or the smell of guano, familiar to most Austinites, that permeates the entire block.

So if you live in Austin, or are visiting, and you want to see bats up close, head on over to 15th St between Trinity and San Jacinton, on the south side of the street. Below is a picture of the guano covering the wall (you can also see the small gap where the bats exit). If you see this, you'll know you're in the right spot.