at roost in the James River Bat Cave near Mason, Texas (click to enlarge.) Donna and I visited this protected cave in 2005 which shelters more than 8 million bats during the summer in a large maternity colony - it's one of the largest aggregations of mammals on Earth! These tiny, hairless Mexican Free-tail bats are mostly all newborn pups in this photo (look closely and you'll see the mom's are covered with brown hair.) I've inserted my hand in the photo for scale - not to harass the little cuties.
The Nature Conservancy manages the property and they provide free evening programs at the cave entrance at dusk when the bats take flight to forage for insects throughout the night. It is well worth the visit to this very special place in order to witness this amazing display of nature (cave entry is forbidden.) Here's an article Donna wrote about this special place while she was working for Bat Conservation International.
The Nature Conservancy manages the property and they provide free evening programs at the cave entrance at dusk when the bats take flight to forage for insects throughout the night. It is well worth the visit to this very special place in order to witness this amazing display of nature (cave entry is forbidden.) Here's an article Donna wrote about this special place while she was working for Bat Conservation International.
That is amazing.
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