Holy bat cave!

New project at Congress bridge teaches about Austin's famous bats

Bat City will debut August 26 at the popular bat viewing area on the south side of the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, offering visitors a new way to learn about Austin's famous Mexican free-tailed bats.

Courtesty of Bat City

A new educational experience is introducing locals and visitors to Austin's bat population. Called Bat City, it will share the story of Austin's famous Mexican free-tailed bat colony with the thousands of people who gather nightly at the popular bat viewing area on the south side of the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge. The full project with interpretive signs, bilingual videos, and more will debut August 26.

The project is the brainchild of Austin wildlife filmmaker Skip Hobbie, whose work has appeared on PBS, National Geographic, Netflix, and the Texas wildlife documentary Deep in the Heart. After years of filming beneath the bridge, Hobbie noticed that visitors often left with unforgettable memories but few answers to their questions.

Bat City - Skip Hobbie Austin wildlife filmmaker Skip Hobbie created Bat City after years of documenting the Congress Avenue Bridge bats.Courtesy of Bat City

"It's always bothered me that the audiences that see my work at home on television are learning more than all the people that come out to witness this amazing wildlife spectacle right in the heart of our beautiful city," Hobbie said in a promotional video for the project's crowdfunding campaign. "We've taken the bat watching experience for granted, and that's why I dreamed up this Bat City Project as a way to create some amazing, free educational resources for everyone."

Hobbie partnered with a coalition of conservation, education, and civic organizations to create the project around three interpretive signs at the viewing area. QR codes connect visitors to six professionally produced short films, bilingual educational content, and interactive activities.

The films answer common questions about Austin's Mexican free-tailed bats while exploring their role as pollinators, seed dispersers, and natural pest controllers. Other videos tell the story of renowned bat biologist and conservationist Dr. Merlin Tuttle, explain what to do if someone encounters a bat in need of help, and dispel common myths about the often misunderstood mammals.

Bat City - Bats Austin wildlife filmmaker Skip Hobbie affectionately calls these Austin natives "these little cuties."Courtesy of Bat City

Tuttle's relationship with Austin stretches back four decades. He relocated Bat Conservation International to Austin in 1986 because the city's growing Congress Avenue Bridge bat colony had become the focus of widespread fear, with alarming headlines, rabies concerns, and petitions calling for the bats to be eradicated.

Through years of public education, scientific research, and outreach, Tuttle helped transform public perception, turning the colony from a feared nuisance into one of Austin's defining attractions.

The digital experience is guided by "Bootsy the Bat," an animated character voiced in English and Spanish by Austin musician Carrie Rodriguez. Visitors can also explore a "fact or fiction" trivia game, a bat-themed scavenger hunt, and other family-friendly activities. Organizers are also creating classroom resources for teachers. The August 26 opening comes near the peak of Austin's bat season, when the colony's young are flying and the nightly emergences are typically at their largest.

While visitors will primarily notice the new signs, Bat City represents a much larger undertaking behind the scenes. Project materials estimate an $850,000 budget for film production, post-production, interpretive signage, curriculum development, and digital resources. Organizers say they have raised about $725,000 through grants, donations, and in-kind support. They are now asking the public to help raise the final $50,000 through a crowdfunding campaign before the debut.

In this archival photo, Dr. Merlin Tuttle feeds bats during one of his research expeditions.Courtesy of @MerlinTuttle

Bat City was developed in partnership with the Trail Conservancy, Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation, Austin Bat Refuge, Bat Conservation International, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation. The Trail Conservancy will maintain the permanent installation.

The experience opens on Merlin Tuttle Day in Austin, first proclaimed by then-Mayor Steve Adler in 2021 to recognize the conservationist's decades of work protecting bats and changing public perception of the Congress Avenue Bridge colony. The opening also coincides with Tuttle's 85th birthday.

bats wildlife animals education nature conservation

Outpacing the competition

Austin shows stamina as No. 2 fittest city in Texas for 2026

Photo by Max Miner on Unsplash

Outdoor activity is a daily part of life for many Austinites.

The people of Austin deserve to take a victory lap: The capital city has been crowned the second fittest city in Texas for 2026.

This year’s American Fitness Index puts Austin at No. 28 among the country’s 100 most populated cities, down from 21st place last year, but still No. 2 in Texas. This also means that Austin is well ahead of Austin's other large metros. Austin ranks 19th in the personal health category and 55th — almost dead average — in the community and environment category.

The index shows 82 percent of Austin residents had exercised in the previous month, 61 percent had met aerobic activity guidelines, and 32 percent had met aerobic and strength activity guidelines. All three of those numbers are above the 100-city averages.

Although from rankings alone, it seems that Austin didn't blow any other cities away, the small variance in results may be encouraging to locals hoping to sharpen their athletic edge. At least as far as these behavioral numbers go, there is not much separating Austinites from the residents of the fittest Texas city, Plano.

The Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Plano ranked No. 12 overall nationally, 10th in the personal health category, and 30th in the community and environment category. Compare Plano's aerobic and strength guidance achievement to Austin's numbers above: 86 percent, 67 percent, and 37 percent. At most, these are 6 percentage points better than Austin's.

The Elevance Health Foundation and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) produce the annual index, which they say combines measures of personal health behavior, chronic disease outcomes, community infrastructure and environmental factors “to provide a comprehensive picture of how well cities promote fitness and well-being.”

Arlington, Virginia, tops the index, followed by Washington, D.C.; Minneapolis; Seattle; and Denver.

“The cities that consistently rank at the top aren’t succeeding because of one program or one investment,” Stella Volpe, past president of ACSM and chair of the Fitness Index Advisory Board, says in a press release. “They’ve built systems that support healthier living over time. They are the ones creating environments where physical activity can easily become a part of everyday routines.”

In Austin’s case, a decent park system contributes to the city’s healthy environment. In May, Austin landed at No. 5 in Texas and 47th in the U.S. in the annual ParkScore Index.

Every year, land conservation nonprofit the Trust for Public Land rates park systems in the 100 biggest American cities on accessibility, equity, acreage, investment, and amenities.

Among other Texas cities appearing in the American Fitness index are:

No. 43 Dallas
No. 44 Houston
No. 80 San Antonio

“Where you live increasingly determines how healthy you are,” Volpe says. “The healthiest cities don’t just encourage exercise — they make movement part of daily life through infrastructure, transportation, and community design.”

fittest city plano rankings health