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I have so much to share with you all. There is never a dull moment and it's difficult to figure out which post to present. But I am going to share with you this one right away. We had a blast tonight as the Rillito River Project put on it's 5th annual Bat Night project. I'm standing with the Bat Lady and hundreds of other bat enthusiasts from Southern Arizona. We're here smackdab in Tucson near the Foothills. You gotta love nature.
Underneath our bridges, the Mexican Free Tail bats hang out in the crevices. You can hear them squeak as you walk under the bridge.
I'm proud that I could figure out their flight patterns before the photo shoot began. Part of it was experience and the other part was on gut instinct. The bats did not disappoint.
At sunset, like clockwork, 45,000 bats shot out into the dark to eat all of our mosquitos.
Bridges, like this one, house thousands of bats all over Tucson. Most of the time they go unnoticed by many hikers or bikers on the Rillito River Walk. If you're in Tucson this summer and want a great sunset beyond our Gates Pass, stop and check out the bats at sunset by our bridges. It's a fun experience that you won't forget.
I like Bats and I wish a more natural sollution to pest control would include utilizing these creatures as opposed to more failed chemical alternatives which do nothing but enrich companies like DuPont or Monsanto.
ReplyDeleteAt my Earth's Internet pages I've got some Bat habitat structural ideas for a sollution of not only Bat habitat, but irradication of Tamarisk and replacing them with Mesquite dune windbreaks and cleaning and restructuring the irrigation drainage water going into the Salton Sea which should also alleviate some of that Sea's problem, though not entirely. Should be interesting.
I'm curious here. Did they construct the bridges diliberately with those creaces with bats in mind, or did the bats simply take advantage of what was already there? Nice story.
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I know that a lot more thought goes into planning around Tucson when it comes to the environment and city construction. The Rillito Wash used to be a river until the mid 1900's. I'm not sure if the water was moved or what but the wash is just that day...a dry river bed until the monsoon arrives. These bats have been here for a long time so I imagine they found these little areas under the bridge more convenient a place to hang out. Today I imagine that when people plan they incorporate these spaces not only for the function of the bridge but to include potential bats as well. Simply put I think the bats took advantage of what was there and the bridge fit the protective and safety needs of the group:)
DeleteGreat photos, but batty.
ReplyDelete45,000 bats that must have been an incredible sight! What a great evenings wildlife watching :-)
ReplyDeleteIt must be COOL to see all the bats flying out from under the bridge. And it is great that they eat all the mosquitoes. There is something going on with the bats called white-nose syndrome killing the bats in Northeastern US. It is sad because they really are needed in the environment.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful experience and an impressive sight, Chris! When we first bought our house we would always see bats flying around the eaves at dusk, I think they were living in our loft. Sadly, we haven't seen them for some years.
ReplyDeleteThese are stunning photographs! The sunset is a perfect setting for the bats.
ReplyDeletegreat fun! :)
ReplyDeleteHow great a sight. I like your bat photos. Just think, they're out there eating those pesky mosquitoes!
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Chris. Bats are SO good to have around. We need to put up a bat house sometime. We've talked about it --but so far, we haven't. We have a nest of bats having babies under one of our shutters in front of the garage almost every year. We can walk by there and hear them... OR--wait til almost dark and watch some of them leave the nest!
ReplyDeleteWe also have one bat which enjoys 'resting' on our front porch during the nights sometimes. He leaves little droppings on the porch for us!!!!
AND--we've had a bat get into the house before once. We finally got him OUT --but it wasn't easy!!!!! ha
Happy Sunday.
Betsy
That's amazing to see... many thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteoh those sunset shots....gorgeous
ReplyDeleteGreat post Chris. The photos of the bats emerging at sunset with the silhouetted buildings and palm trees are so atmospheric.
ReplyDeleteI just love bats and have been to some great "Bat Nights". Sometimes the organisers hand out bat detectors which lower the high pitch of the bats' echo-location to a pitch that humans can hear.
Hi Chris, I love bats too, but here in Australia we have a difficult and problematic situation. Because of habitat destruction large colonies have settled in cities and there is an association with deadly Hendra virus that they can transmit to horses and then to humans. It is a post I've meaning to write. And Betsy, maybe dispose carefully of the bat droppings on your porch. cheers, cat
ReplyDeleteI love bats. We usually see at least one, often more, flying around our yard right about dusk. I don't know what kind they are, in fact there are usually at least two different kinds - some are much bigger than the others.
ReplyDeleteThere is a large old building with lots of angles, recesses, and gables in our downtown a few blocks from our house, and there are SO many of them living there. It used to be the village civic center. Now there are lots of businesses, and apartments there. The apartments are so unique and beautiful, with lots of old, thick woodwork, skylights, and bay windows. Some have access to flat-roof patio areas. I wonder if that's where the bats who visit our yard mostly come from. I'm so glad we have such a neat building that shelters the bats, and glad that our town appreciates their value and doesn't try to get rid of them. More than ever, bats need to be valued and protected.
What an amazing sight! Do they only hang out under a specific bridge? When I lead cave tours I liked to see the bats, spring and fall only as during summer they hung out in the trees and the cave was closed during winter to protect their hibernation. Some visitors freaked. You did get some really great shots, especially with the sunset.
ReplyDeleteThey are found all over underneath our bridges down here. We have several high traffic areas where these particular bats congregate around town.
DeleteThis is really neat...and it gives me an idea. I'll let you know if things work out like I'm hoping.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting! It reminds me of Austin Texas... there is a famous bridge with huge amounts of bats. September is the best season to look at them at night...
ReplyDelete