People in Austin, Texas, watch the nightly bat emergence from the water and land. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

The bats of Texas put new meaning into the concept of dining and dashing.

It’s a like switch has been flipped as these nocturnal creatures emerge at dusk in search of dinner.

“On their nightly flights, the bats eat anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects, including mosquitoes and harmful agricultural pests,” Visit Austin’s website says. “While it is not known exactly where the bats go every night, the majority of the colony flies east and hunts for insects along the Colorado River. The entire colony doesn’t travel together to the same place, nor do they stay out for the same amount of time each night. The bats flight pattern generally depends on the weather and whether or not they’re nursing a baby bat, called a pup.”

It’s estimated more bats than people live in Austin, Texas. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

The same website says most bats in this colony are female. Early June is when the pups are born, with one birth per mom in a year. By five months the little is able to fly and find its own food.

More than 1 million Mexican free-tailed bats call the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas, home. They migrate each spring from central Mexico to spots throughout the southwest of the United States.

“Insect-eating bats save farmers approximately $23 billion in annual agricultural losses in the United States alone,” according to Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation.

Bats are also quite the pollinators.

“Mexico’s entire tequila industry relies on a single species of bat-pollinated agave plant,” the conservation center reports. “Approximately 70 percent of all tropical fruits eaten by humans rely on bats as primary pollinators or seed dispersers in the wild, ranging from bananas and mangoes to peaches, cashews and dates.”

Engineers never intended to create this ideal bat home. But that is exactly what happened when the bridge was renovated in 1980. The deep, narrow crevices between the beams are perfect for bats to hangout in when they aren’t flying .

When these mammals first started to show up people wanted to exterminate them. Now they are a tourist attraction, with kayak tours and motorized boats providing interesting viewing options. Even from the shore it is quite a spectacle as the bats emerge, flying in large clusters.