History of Austin

History of Austin's famous Congress Avenue bats flies from hysteria to city treasure

Austin downtown skyline bats Congress Bridge

Austin has been home to North America's largest colony of Mexican free-tail bats since 1980.

When the Congress Avenue Bridge was reconstructed in 1980, no one realized that the crevices below the bridge would make ideal nesting places for Mexican free-tailed bats. But ideal they are, and eventually Austin became home to the largest urban bat colony in North America.

Although bats have always lived under the bridge, after it was redesigned in 1980, colonies heading north from wintering in Mexico began heading Austin in enormous numbers. At the time, very little was known locally about the bat population, so a mild hysteria began to multiply among citizens. In fact, there was even a local group calling for widespread elimination of the winged creatures.

Almost four decades later and Austin has not only learned to accept our flying neighbors, but embrace them to become the Bat Capital of America. That road to acceptance, however, wasn't always smooth. Here, we examine the complex history of the Austin bats.

Bat Conservation International (BCI)
While the introduction of bats was causing alarm in local citizens, Merlin Tuttle, Ph.D, a scientist and bat enthusiast, was working as the curator of mammals at the Milwaukee Public Museum in Wisconsin. Tuttle had a lifelong fascination with bats and was interested in educating the public on the benefits of bats in a community and the importance of bat conservation. Tuttle even wrote his dissertation on population ecology of the gray bat for the University of Kansas.

In 1986, Tuttle quit his job in Milwaukee and devoted himself entirely to the creation of Bat Conservation International. He chose Austin as BCI's new headquarters for many reasons, but perhaps the biggest was at the time, it was the largest city in the country to be overcome by bat-induced hysteria. (According to a national opinion poll at the time, bats were so wildly unpopular they ranked between rattlesnakes and cockroaches in terms of public perception.)

BCI has been quite successful in educating the public on the benefits of bats in the community. A few decades after BCI was founded, the bats under the Ann Richards Congress Avenue are thriving as the largest urban bat colony in North America, and bat tourism is estimated by the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau to bring in an estimate ten million dollars annually.

Austin Bat Refuge
While BCI advocates for and educates the public on bats worldwide, there is a local sanctuary, Austin Bat Refuge, committed to the health and welfare of the bats in Austin. The organization cares for abandoned and injured bats found in Central Texas and Houston. They also operate the bat observation area in the Austin American-Statesman parking lot during peak times to answer questions and direct first-time viewers so they can have a fulfilling experience while viewing the bridge bats.

ABR was started by a public outreach specialist formerly with BCI, and a group of devoted volunteers who together help educate the public on bat facts such as:

1.5 million bats take flight from the Congress bridge every day during bat season, which runs March through September. The bats leave at dusk (putting on a stunning show) and return at daybreak.
The gentle creatures are voracious eaters and together consume 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of insects per day.
Many of the bridge bats are female and in early June most of the females give birth to a single bat, also called a pup. The nursing mothers will consume close to their weight in insects on a daily basis.
Close to 100,000 people go to the bridge every year to witness this quirky and dazzling display.
The hotter and drier the temperatures are (think August) the earlier the bats leave for their nocturnal journey.

The next phase
Austin has gone from bat hysteria to celebrating them with things like the Night Wing Bat Sculpture on South Congress. Now, thanks to private donations by individuals and corporations, the Trail Foundation is about to complete a $2.5 million dollar bat viewing bridge this May.

In addition to needed safety improvements to the aging bridge, the project includes a 172-foot pedestrian bridge and a bat viewing area on the north end of the bridge (at the foot of the new The Line hotel, along the hike-and-bike trail). The Trail Foundation and the developers of this project worked closely with Austin Bat Refuge to ensure that not only bats would not be disturbed, but that a serene and scenic area would exist to enhance the goal of witnessing the bat as they leave the bridge at sunset only to return at sunrise the next morning.

Embracing the bats
Whether a tourist or seasoned Austinite, what better way to see the bats than leisurely watching them while floating on the lake? There are a number of options for bat tour boats including Capital Cruises and the Lone Star Riverboat (both dock behind the Hyatt Regency). Live Love Paddle (at the AMLI South Shore at 1602 E. Riverside Dr.) offers a special bat viewing kayak tour where groups gather, follow the leader to a prime bat viewing spot on the lake, and then watch the flight together.

Austin has come a long way from fearing them to promoting our beloved bats as a quirky activity for all. Whether you are visiting Austin for a few days, just moved to Austin, or you are a longtime Austinite this nightly show (from March through September) is fun, free, appeals to all ages, and is a uniquely Austin experience.

Red Light

San Antonio leads Texas on ending horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

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Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

San Antonio has pulled off something that the rest of Texas has yet to do, but it didn't come without some contentious conversations. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

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