The Congress Avenue Bridge Bats
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Like it or not, tourist attractions are part of this city, too. But do they deserve the bad rap they get from grizzled locals? Decider takes an ongoing, objective look at the cold, hard facts of establishments that largely exist to draw in transients in Tourist Trap. In this edition, we look at one of the city's biggest claims to fame: The Congress Avenue Bridge Bats.
Fodor’s says: “The world's largest urban bat colony—750,000 Mexican free-tailed bats—hangs out beneath Austin's Congress Avenue Bridge from April through October. Once considered a nuisance, they're now prized as a tourist attraction and municipal symbol.”
Decider says: When the bats first started settling into the snug underbelly of the renovated Congress Avenue Bridge back in the early 1980s, the suggestion that they might soon become one of Austin’s premier tourist attractions probably would have been met with derisive laughter from locals who regarded the bat invasion as some sort of Hitchcockian end-times scenario. But the good people at Bat Conservation International set the alarmists straight, and once everyone was assured that there was little danger of airborne plague or winged mammals dive-bombing innocent pedestrians, it was time to get down to the business of figuring out how to make some money from these critters.
Since the bats are courteous enough to check out of their public housing most evenings right around dusk, filling the sky over Lady Bird Lake like an apocalyptic shroud before fanning out to feast on bugs by the ton, it wasn’t long before people began gathering along the banks and reserving special tables at nearby restaurants to watch the spectacle. Naturally, where large groups of people congregate, you will eventually find ice cream vendors, memorabilia hawkers, and sunset “bat-watching” cruises, until presto, you have a civic tourist attraction, a name for your minor-league hockey team, and an unofficial mascot for the city. Still, it’s hard to get too worked up over a little harmless commercialism when you’re actually standing on the bridge—or any of the nearby viewing perches, such as the lawn of the Austin American-Statesman or the Four Seasons patio—and suddenly a million fucking bats are flying overhead.
Fun fact: Tequila is produced from agave plants, which are pollinated by bats. This is why locals should never complain about our thriving colony, no matter how many gawking out-of-towners are clogging the hike-and-bike trail. No bats means no margaritas.
Tourist Trap? Obviously, but you can’t blame the bats. If they were really in it for the money, they’d be sure to show up in time for SXSW every year. Remember, bat-watching is a free activity so long as you’re not taking one of the cruises—and truth be told, even those are a pretty good deal if you’ve got guests coming to town. (Remember to BYOB.) You really can’t see this kind of thing anywhere else, you know.
