Austin's bats get their close-up
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Bats from beneath the Ann Richards Bridge spotted in front of the Frost Bank Tower. Photo courtesy Bat City Films
Starting Wednesday, the old Statesman bat viewing area beneath the Congress Avenue Bridge will present an interactive way to engage with one of the city's most popular natural attractions.
Why it matters: More than 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats emerging nightly is a go-to spectacle, yet there has been little on-site educational context for visitors — until now.
What's happening: While waiting for the bats to take their twilight flight, visitors can check out Bat City on their phones. It's a new digital platform hosted by the Trail Conservancy with videos, bat facts and interactive content in English and Spanish.
What they're saying: "I love all the animals, but I'm fascinated by creatures who don't get the love and attention they deserve," Skip Hobbie, the Emmy Award-winning, Austin-based nature filmmaker who developed the project, tells Axios.
- "We've all seen a hundred films about the lions of the Serengeti, but we've never seen documentaries about bats," Hobbie says.
- "Through my professional career, I began to appreciate how amazing and diverse and important bats are to the planet — but most people who watch the bats don't learn a thing while they're there [at the bridge]."
Driving the news: Wednesday is the 85th birthday of Merlin Tuttle, the ecologist and founder of Bat Conservation International who is credited with helping protect the Congress Avenue Bridge bat colony.
Zoom in: At the center of the experience is a series of short educational videos narrated by "Bootsy the Bat," a handmade puppet voiced by Austin musician Carrie Rodriguez.
- The content addresses common bat-watching questions, dispels myths, highlights the work of Merlin Tuttle and Austin Bat Refuge, and explores bats' ecological role as pollinators, seed dispersers, and natural pest control.
- Visitors can also play a "Fact or Fiction" trivia game, a bat-themed scavenger hunt and other bilingual educational activities.
- "When I'm on the bridge with my big camera," Hobbie says, "people ask me, 'Will I get rabies if I stand beneath the bridge and one pees on my head?'" Learn the answer to this and other questions.
By the numbers: In Texas alone, bats save farmers an estimated $1.4 billion annually in reduced crop damage and pesticide use.
Follow the money: Support for the $850,000 project has come from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, Austin Bat Refuge, Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation, Bat Conservation International, H-E-B and Oracle.
What's next: Working with Texas educators, Hobbie has developed lesson plans aligned with state curriculum standards for use in Texas classrooms.
The bottom line: "Austin's bat colony is one of the most visible examples of how urban ecology enriches both our natural environment and our community," Trail Conservancy CEO Julie Fisher says in a statement.
- "The new interpretive signs will help visitors better understand that connection, creating opportunities for education, stewardship, and a deeper appreciation for one of Austin's most iconic natural assets — our bats."