People gathered on the Ann Richards Bridge watching bats swoop in the sky. Photo: Jeff Haynes/AFP via Getty Images
If you're ready to level up your outdoor game, consider adding a bat box to your space.
Why it matters: Texas is home to 32 bat species, and bat boxes can help provide safe roosting habitat as natural spaces shrink.
As many as 100,000 bats are present year-round beneath the Ann Richards Bridge over Lady Bird Lake, but that number ramps up to more than a million in summer months.
The big picture: Bats are key pollinators that spread seeds and devour pesky insects like mosquitoes, wasps and flies.
Yes, but: "Bat houses are complicated to get right," warn experts at Bat Conservation International. "They can go unused for years, attract pests, and even harm bats when installed incorrectly."