At Risk: Planet’s Most Extraordinary Bat Colony

Millions of bats emerge from the mouth of Bracken Cave, a mere 20 minutes north of downtown San Antonio. Photo courtesy of EdwardsAquifer.net.

By Bill Hurley:  From March through October, the Bracken Cave is home to a nursery colony of nearly 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats – the largest colony and concentration of mammals on Earth. Right here on the far northeastern edge of San Antonio.                                                         The emerging bats darken the sky at sunset as they swarm out of the cave’s mouth to feed on insects, and then again when they return at sunrise. In the course of a single night swarming the skies of South Texas they consume more than 100 tons of crop-damaging insects. And they significantly reduce the number of mosquitos in the region...Continue reading...