Bats, bats, bats!

Last Wednesday night, we took our in-laws on the river with Capital Cruises to see the famous Congress Avenue bats. We have lived in Austin for nearly a year now, and this was our very first time viewing them! I can't believe it took us this long; it was absolutely spectacular. About 750,000 of these tiny bats live inside the bridge (200 of them to a square foot), and they leave it at sunset each evening in the summer to go hunting for insects. The swarms of bats look like smoke coiling against the sky. Just amazing. It does rain a fair bit of guano - and the odd bat, too, as they miscalculate and drop into the water! They're good little swimmers, and the boats passing below the bridge do their best to fish them out, as well. One wee bat fell into the water next to our boat, and we pulled him out onto the deck. It was too dark by then to get a good photograph of him, but he was barely bigger than my thumb and looked like a tiny Mink with wings. (Don't get any ideas, Mink).

Don't worry - he's back with his friends now!