World’s largest bat colony, 15-20 million strong, emerges from Texas cave in 360
Also, ride on one of the last iconic WWII bombers and wander through an ancient forest:
Millions of Mexican free-tailed bats spend the summer in Bracken Cave outside San Antonio, Texas. Watch the astonishing show as the colony emerges for its nightly feast.
Imagine 200 bats hanging from your laptop screen. That's how densely Mexican free-tailed bats pack the walls of Bracken Cave every summer.
Bracken Cave, on the outskirts of San Antonio, is home to the largest known colony of bats in the world. Approximately 15-20 million bats converge there each summer. Witness them fly overhead with VRtually There in the video.
Each spring pregnant female bats migrate to Central Texas where they give birth and raise their young before returning to Mexico in October. With temperatures over 100 degrees, the environment inside the cave acts as a giant incubator for the young bats.
The nursing moms emerge from the cave each night to fly long distances in search of food. They gorge on moths, flying ants, and other crop pests. Their concentration is so dense that the airborne colony looks like a cloud on weather radar screens miles away. The bats collectively consume over 140 tons of insects each night, providing a service to farmers nearby. They return to the cave before sunrise while it’s still dark.
The juveniles spread their wings for the first time when they are around a month old. The flight is a matter of life or death as the floor of the cave is crawling with dermestid beetles, which will devour fallen bats in a matter of minutes. Half of the pups won’t make it to their second birthday. Around August and September, the young start joining their mothers for hunts outside the cave.
Experience the bats emerge for their nightly feast in this incredible natural spectacle in the video above.
Special Thanks
Bat Conservation International:
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Texas Bats (Starring San Antonio's RiverWalk!)
Exciting night-time spectacle shows 50K+ hungry bats flying out en masse from underneath downtown bridges at dusk in search of their favorite foods~which happens to be our least favorite dudes (pesky flying insects).
Specifically, Mexican Free-tailed Bats freely migrate each year between the our southernmost American states and most of Mexico plus part of Central & South America. The Mexican free-tailed bat or Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) is a medium-sized bat native to the Americas, regarded as one of the most abundant mammals in North America. Its proclivity towards roosting in huge numbers at relatively few locations makes it vulnerable to habitat destruction in spite of its abundance. The bat is considered a species of special concern in California as a result of declining populations. It has been claimed to have the fastest horizontal speed (as opposed to stoop diving speed) of any animal, reaching top ground speeds over 160 km/h.
While 'deep in the heart of Texas', they love to roost in hidden caves and equivalent man-made structures. Along with bridges in Austin and caves at nearby Bracken, San Antonio's urban bridge is a favored Casa de Chiroptera. The city and state parks folks do a good job hosting and educating locals who wish to enjoy the spectacle for a few months each summer. | & (866) 345-7272 (San Antonio River Authority)
Generally, bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera; with their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more maneuverable than birds, flying with their very long spread-out digits covered with a thin membrane or patagium.
Scientific name: Chiroptera
Order: Chiroptera; Blumenbach, 1779
Class: Mammalia
Mass: Common pipistrelle: 0.18 oz
Wingspan: Lesser horseshoe bat: 7.6 – 10 in., Mediterranean horseshoe bat: 12 – 13 in.
Lifespan: Lifespan: Most bats live longer than most mammals of their size. The longest known lifespan of a bat in the wild is 30 years for a little brown bat.
This is a pair of short back2back videos showing their nightly mass exit to feed on two different San Antonio summer nights.
Includes footage of the Alamo City's famed RiverWalk ~ since the bridge they alight from is in the new Museum Reach section downtown.
Sister opus to the MazzJohn flora & fauna videos: Texas BlueBonnets ( and Texas Monarchs (
#BatLoco #TexasBats #Bats #Batman #Chiroptera #BatFlight #RiverWalk #SanAntonioRiverWalk #CamdenStreetBridge #AlamoCity #SanAntonio
Video resolution: 1920x1080 (HD). Still and moving images recorded with both Sony digital camcorder and HTC & Samsung Android cellphones.
Feel free to LEARN from and then LIKE & SHARE this educational video. SUBSCRIBE & COMMENT too ~ Resistance is futile.
❤♫ ヘ(°◇、°)ノ FLY ❀ Chiroptera ❀ FLY ヘ(‘◇’)ノ ♫❤
Experience: Bracken Cave Preserve
Nestled among the rolling terrain of the Texas Hill Country, the Bracken Cave Preserve is the summer home of more than 15 million Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis), making it the world's largest bat colony and one of the largest concentration of mammals on earth. However, this rich ecosystem is host to a myriad of lifeforms - from minuscule ants to towering trees. Watch and experience the Bracken Cave Preserve.
Bats under the Bridge of San Antonio Tx
Bats under camden st Bridge in San Antonio Texas Aug. 9 2016
The Bats from the Camden St Bridge in San Antonio, TX
Bat Cave
2 MILLION BATS Austin Texas
The nightly ritual of the bats emerging from under the Congress Avenue bridge. This is the largest urban bat colony in North America. These bats consume over 30,000 pounds of insects per night. This was so cool to see, really happy I got to experience this in person!
Bracken Bat Cave Emergence
This is a short video of the beginning of the bat emergence at Bracken Bat Cave near San Antonio. The video was taken on July 11, 2016. Bracken Bat Cave is home to not just the largest colony of bats in the world, but it is the largest concentration of mammal like anywhere on the planet.
Bat Capital of the World - Texas Parks and Wildlife [Official]
Bat Capital of the World
Austin is well-known for the millions of Mexican free-tailed bats that live under the city’s bridges and overpasses. These bats were once considered a nuisance. But thanks to a group called Bat Conservation International, Texans have become mindful of this species’ vital role in the control of insects.
Bats in Your Backyard - Texas
There are 47 species of bats in the United States and there are likely a few in your backyard! If you live in Texas, look out for some of these species!
Frio bats
Another adventure for the traveling fools! Near San Antonio- we had a fantastic time watching the bats. This is the 2nd Largest Bat Population in the World ~ But, it's the Largest Bat Population in the World that's Open to the Public. Be Amazed As You Watch 10 to 12 Million Mexican free-tailed Bats Emerge From The Frio Cave Into the Evening Sky. You will also see Hawks & Falcons Catching the Bats in Mid Air for their Evening Meal.
Bracken Bat Cave Continued
Frio Bat Flight
mexican free tailed bats in Concan Texas. The 2nd largest bat population in the US. 12 million bats!
bats, devils sinkhole, texas
bats exiting the sinkhole
Bracken Cave Bat Emergence
From batcon.org
Bracken Bat Emergence
It is an old story. For over 10,000 years, the bats have come to Bracken Cave every Spring. Probably beginning as soon as the last Ice Age receded northward, allowing the sun to warm up the coastal bend of a place we now call Texas. The bats bred. Raised their young. Hung themselves in tightly packed clusters from the cave ceiling. And at twilight, they flowed on whirring wings into the night sky. Millions of them. Until a trickle turned into a winding, twisting river of Mexican free-tailed bats, ready to feast on the protein-rich, airborne insects migrating over the limestone hills.
And so it came to be that in this very special place, the largest concentration of mammals on our planet gathered. Just twenty miles from San Antonio. The country's fifth largest metropolitan area and steadily growing. Alongside millions of bats. The story is far from over. But we need your help to ensure its future.
Bats emerge at Bracken Cave
20 million bats emerging from the largest grouping of bats in the world, Bracken Cave, Texas. This is just a few minutes of a spectacle that lasts for hours, until well after dark.
A Postcard from the Field: The Bats of Austin | Dateline NBC
On our travels for ‘After the Storm,’ our team learned about a nightly event that has become a seasonal staple in Austin, Texas. Millions of bats have made a home in the crevices beneath the Congress Avenue Bridge, and each evening, hundreds of people gather to watch them emerge in search of dinner.
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Bracken Bat Flight 8.7.11
Bexar Grotto goes to Bracken Bat Cave for the flight. Video of bats flying off into distance.
Texas Bats
Worlds largest public bat viewing at the Frio cave near Concan, TX...just west of San Antonio. 10 million+ bats.
Bat Caves of Texas - Texas Parks and Wildlife [Official]
A tour of some of the best viewing spots in Texas for Mexican free-tailed bats. Meet a bat up close and get an inside view of how bats live.