Going Batty

When I lived in Austin, TX, one fun evening activity was to walk down to the Congress Avenue bridge around sunset and wait for the emergence of the bats.

Austin is home to what is estimated to be the largest urban colony of bats in North America, and more than a million Mexican free-tail bats emerge after sunset to scour the Hill Country for insects. It may be hard to believe, but the bats are estimated to consume 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects nightly. The emergence looks like an inky black trail snaking across the Austin skyline, and is easily detected by National Weather Service Doppler radar. Bat Conservation International, a non-profit organization dedicated to bat conservation and education, is headquartered in Austin.

Our Coulee Region climate makes it tough for bats to be year-round residents, but you’re likely to see several species of bats from spring through mid- to late-Fall. The best time for bat-watching is in the evening on quiet nights. It’s hard to miss their small black shapes darting in seemingly random tracks through the trees and across the sky as they pursue the thousands of insects they consume overnight. Bat Conservation of Wisconsin, a non-profit organization that’s not related to Bat Conservation International, is a good source for information about our local bat species and links to information about bats.

According to Bat Conservation of Wisconsin, the species you’re most likely to see in the Coulee Region are the big brown, eastern pipistrelle, hoary, Indiana (rare), little brown, northern myotis, red, and silver-haired bats. You’re most likely to encounter the big brown bat, which is one of the most common species in the lower 48 states.

While bats appear to be randomly darting through the sky, they know where they’re going. In fact, they pinpoint their fast-flying insect prey and other objects by sending out high-pitched sounds. They use the echoes from these emitted sounds to form a mental picture of objects in their path. Of course, bats also have eyes and can see quite well.

Like all wild animals, it’s important not to handle bats or attempt to keep them as pets. Bat Conservation of Wisconsin has a great information page with helpful tips about what to do if a bat happens to get in your house and ways to safely keep bats from making parts of your home their home.

Our Coulee Region bats do a great job keeping our summer insect pests under control. Plus, they’re a lot of fun to watch!