Austin Archives - Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation

A School Where Bats Are Welcome

July 12, 2019July 12, 2019 Teresa Nichta

7/11/19
By Merlin Tuttle

Ariel Miller documenting installation of her school’s new bat houses.

Skybridge Academy is doing something new! While many school administrators might panic at the sight of a bat in the yard, Ariel Miller, founder of the school in Dripping Springs, Texas, recently invited us to install two bat houses in her schoolyard. She hopes to attract hundreds of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) and use them as teaching aids across Skybridge’s custom-made curriculum.

To put it mildly, the school is innovative! The yard includes a pair of pigs, a beehive, a vegetable garden, and now deluxe housing for bats. Students choose their own subjects and learn practical skills, completely omitting standardized testing. Skybridge alumni have an outstanding track record of achievement regardless of whether they opt to pursue higher education or another career path.

Merlin Tuttle discussing bats with Skybridge faculty.

For the school’s 65-70 middle- and high-school students, each new day is an exciting adventure. In early May 2019, our colleague John Chenger of Bat Conservation and Management donated and helped to install two bat houses. Beginning in the fall, students will add bats to their captivating curriculum.

I met Skybridge’s students and their families when I served as commencement speaker for the 2019 graduating class. I spoke of the power of following one’s passion, and the joy of successfully meeting seemingly hopeless challenges. Teresa and I subsequently spent half a day with school faculty who were intrigued with the potential for using bats to spark interest and teach real-world skills. We hope Skybridge will become a model.

Merlin presenting Skybridge 2019 commencement address on their beautiful campus. Congratulations to the graduates!

Member Night Bat Cruise

May 9, 2019May 9, 2019 Teresa Nichta

4/12/19
By Merlin Tuttle

This year’s member night bat cruise was, as usual, a fun event and included MTBC members from as far away as the United Kingdom. Due to unusually frequent spring showers, the bats have been waiting till sundown to emerge, but are still attracting large crowds of viewers.

Our April 12 cruise participants enjoyed a large, three-column emergence that began soon after sundown. If our August 16 cruise is equal to those of the past three years, the emergence will begin before sundown and include four great columns, a truly spectacular event, the best of the year. Leadership and above members receive first-priority bookings for these free nights with me and our staff. Space is limited. Make your reservations early. Don’t miss out!

Millions of tourists have watched free-tailed bat emergences from the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas over the past 35 years without anyone ever having been harmed.

Atlas Obscura’s SXSW Bat Watching Evening with Merlin

March 15, 2019July 12, 2019 Teresa Nichta

By Teresa Nichta
3/15/19

Atlas Obscura features travel, exploration and hosts a collaborative guide to worldwide locations of special interest. Bats seem a perfect fit with a publication featuring the world’s hidden wonders! This week, they hosted their first Austin bat watching event, an armada of more than 50 kayakers, led by organization co-founder Dylan Thuras and Merlin Tuttle and sponsored by SXSW, Gore-Tex and Congress Avenue Kayaks.

Atlas Obscura co-founder Dylan Thuras and Merlin Tuttle discussing evening plans as they don life jackets.

Merlin provided a brief dockside introduction to the Congress Avenue Bridge’s famous free-tailed bats and an introduction to the diversity and importance of bats worldwide. Participants came from as far away as Australia and Brazil and peppered Merlin with enthusiastic questions. The event was so popular that an unfortunately large number of hopeful registrants had to be turned away.

Merlin introducing the world of bats to participants.

It was a beautiful spring evening, and some 200,000 overwintering bats emerged prior to sundown. Hundreds of thousands more are expected to arrive soon, migrating north from overwintering caves in Mexico. Unusual entertainment was provided by two small falcons, extraordinarily determined to feast on bats. Fortunately for viewers rooting for the bats, these two hawks turned out to be the least competent bat catchers Merlin has ever seen. We counted more than 20 failed chases! (more…)

PechaKucha with Batman

October 25, 2018January 22, 2019 Paula Tuttle

PechaKucha [ or ペチャクチャ translated as “chit-chat”] is a series of 6-minute talks from presenters in the creative industry including artists, musicians, architects, filmmakers, writers, entrepreneurs, and local personalities. Each presenter showed 20 images, each lasting for just 20 seconds. PechaKucha events foster the art of concise presentations. This year’s PechaKucha Night Austin #32 was held in Austin on October 11, 2018. Merlin was honored to be invited by Austinites DJ Stout and Lana McGilvray, the hosts of PK ATX.

The following ten speakers each had 6 minutes to promote a subject in their area of expertise. Merlin, of course, promoted bats with emphasis on those in Austin and had an outstanding response. Watch his presentation!

Herman Dyal – Graphic Designer/Architect
Gretchen Harries Graham – Educator
Dave McClinton – Graphic Designer/Artist
Refugee Is Not My Name (Aaron Weiss, Jess Archer and Ashley St. Clair) – Art Collaborators
Brian Beattie – Musician/Producer
Dale Whistler – Artist/Sculptor
Sarah N. Evans – Activist
Randal Ford – Photographer
Merlin Tuttle – Batman
Mélat Kassa – Musician

Check out those bats! Beautiful poster made by Pentagram design firm.

Counting Free-tailed Bats in Bridges

September 18, 2018January 22, 2019 Merlin Tuttle

9/10/18
By Merlin Tuttle

Merlin inspects Brazilian free-tailed bats (*Tadarida brasiliensis*) moments after removing them from their bridge crevice roost for counting.

For many years we’ve wondered just how many Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) could cram into a single 18-inch-deep bridge crevice. Accurate counts of large colonies are difficult no matter how they’re made. However, when estimating bridge colonies, it would help if we knew the number, using an average horizontal foot of crevice.

The solution seemed easy. Two years ago, Glen Novinger, an MTBC member and I, inserted two, three-quarter-inch-thick wooden frames, each encompassing a square foot of interior space, into bridge crevices of the same width while the bats were out feeding. The idea was to later slowly remove them, forcing those roosting inside to exit into a cloth-lined bag from which we would count them.

However, the bats were full of surprises. The first night we waited patiently till half an hour after we’d seen the last ones leave—or at least that was what we thought! But when we approached to install our devices, roughly half remained inside. I couldn’t help but wonder how many emergence counts had missed those that, for whatever their reasons, didn’t emerge at sundown. (more…)

Texas Department of Transportation Celebrates Bats

August 29, 2018January 22, 2019 Teresa Nichta

8/28/18
By Merlin Tuttle

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has set world records when it comes to helping bats, and that special help is paying big dividends for Texans and for countless visitors. Thanks to the enthusiastic early leadership of Supervising Bridge Engineer, Mark Bloschock and the continuing efforts of Stirling Robertson, now in charge of Strategic Projects, and John Young, an Environmental Specialist, TxDOT is taking great pride in its accomplishments.

On August 21, Stirling and John organized a special bat evening for 30 of TxDOT’s most important media and public information officers. They each received a copy of Department’s new guide to bat watching at state bridges, attended my 20-minute presentation at TxDOT headquarters, then joined me for a special Congress Avenue Bridge bat watching evening. We were delighted when we learned that Mark, who is now retired, would be able to join us.

Merlin speaking to TxDOT media and public relations staff.

Merlin entertaining TxDOT staff with bat facts while waiting for Congress Ave Bridge bats to emerge.

The bats performed beautifully, and Stirling reported, “There has been overwhelming positive response to your talk and the whole event. Good stuff!” A big thank you to Stirling for making this event possible! We look forward to future collaboration and many more bats in Texas bridges.

Emerging bats providing America’s most famous urban wildlife spectacle.

Nature Nights: BATS! at the Wildflower Center

June 22, 2018January 22, 2019 Paula Tuttle

Nature Nights at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a free family-fun event held each summer. Merlin Tuttle and Lucas Miller were the main entertainment for Nature Nights: BATS! on June 21st. Merlin’s bat photographs captivated the children and their parents alike. Afterwards, Lucas Miller, “The Singing Zoologist,” performed for the crowd with his “silly songs about serious science.”