Now wouldn’t you rather have bats out in open heading for insects than in a room with you!

Yes, you would.

I’ll throw my personal experience in here. Incredibly my son and I were draped around a statue across from Alamo trying to get a good view of some president who was arriving, when a bat torpedoed into statue and fell, stunned, at our feet. While mothers and kids screamed, former in fear, and latter in delight, poor bat just flailed around. You could’ve picked it up with gloves, but we just walked away. It was unable to fly, and uninterested in humans.

But let me stress again, there’s no heroism involved; bats coming from bridge are far away and they’re on a mission. You might suggest to thrill older children, if you’re that type, that they are going to turn your way, but they have a plan and I guess they’re herd animals. What would you do anyway? Whistle?

One way you can view them is from a cruise on Capital Cruise Boats (http://www.capitalcruises.com/html/bat.htm ) or Lone Star River Boats.

Another way is sitting on outside bat-viewing decks of TGI Friday’s in Radisson Hotel on Town Lake, and Shoreline Bar & Grill restaurant in Hyatt-Regency Austin hotel. If I bring adults, we usually enjoy a gourmet meal at latter. If I bring kids or teens, TGI Fridays is place.

When do they leave? Depends on time of year, weather conditions, colony size and bat mood. But of course there’s a Bat Hot Line to tell you -- 512-416-5700 (Category 3636). BCI suggests mid-August as best time, as new pups are making their first sojourns out to hunt with their moms. Best viewing months in general are July and August.

You can also bring blankets and picnic baskets and watch from Austin American-Statesman’s Bat Observation Center, located at southeast corner of bridge. It offers educational kiosks and BCI “interpreters” on summer weekends, Thursday through Sunday, June through August.

There are several lots where you can park FREE, no refreshment stands, no public restrooms. Are you getting picture? That you can have a fun and educational outing that doesn’t cost A CENT? Part of fun of excursion is “old timey” feeling.

Spending my summers in Texas each year in a town about 60 miles northeast of Austin, our major entertainment in evening was to drag a quilt outside on front lawn and lie down and look at stars (“The stars at night, are big and bright, clap clap clap clap…). Well, same deal here – quilt, picnic basket, nature’s own show, and no money changing hands. Very novel these days and kids won’t fail to miss that something’s very different. This is no Disney World.

Incidentally, to Chinese, bats are symbols of good luck and happiness. They symbolize health, long life, prosperity, love of virtue, and natural death.

Check out here ( http://www.batcon.org/discover xguide.html ) for other bat observing locations nearby and ya’ll come, y’hear? You won’t see something like this very often.

©Susan Dunn, MA, The EQ Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc . I offer coaching, distance learning and ebooks around Emotional Intelligence for your personal and professional development. Transitions a specialty. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE ezine. For daily EQ tips, send blank email to EQ4U-subscribe@yahoogroups.com . I TRAIN AND CERTIFY EQ COACHES. GET IN THIS FIELD, DUBBED 'WHITE HOT' BY THE PRESS, NOW. No residency requirement.

How can you see them? ·You can bring a blanket and picnic basket and view them from Bat Observation Center at one corner of bridge. They offer educational kiosks, and BCI “interpreters” on summer weekends, Thursday through Sunday, June through August. ·From a cruise on Capital Cruise Boats ( http://www.capitalcruises.com/html/bat.htm ) or Lone Star River Boats. ·From outdoor bat-observation decks of Radisson Hotel on Town Lake, TGI Fridays, and Hotel on Town Lake, and Shoreline Bar & Grill restaurant in Hyatt-Regency Austin hotel.

There is ample free parking around, and it has element of an “old timey’ adventure. This is not Disney World; non-commercial, loosely structured, and basically free. I’ve taken people of all ages to see this, and even those hard-to-impress teens were spellbound.

Call Bat Hot Line - 512-416-5700 (Category 3636) for information.

The Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve

A combined effort of Texas Nature Conservancy and BCI, this cave is one of largest bat nurseries in US.

Located southwest of town of Mason, TX near State Highway 290. 8 acres, open mid-May to early October for interpretive tours, Thursday – Sunday, 6-9 p.m. Some sunrise tours are available, where you can see bats coming back. A donation of $5 is suggested. http://nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states exas/preserves/art6022.html .

Go here to see a photo of bats emerging at sunset: http://nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states exas/images/o_bat_emergence1.jpg . The bats fly out in a funnel formation that’s fascinating to watch. And if you're an early-bird, they sometimes offer sunRISE watchings. For information, call (325) 347-5970.

The Frio Bat Cave

About an hour and a half northwest of San Antonio, TX you’ll find Frio Bat Cave. It’s near Lost Maples State Natural Area and Hill Country Adventures offers birding and wildlife tours, river tours by kayak (4 and 8-hour versions), SAG support for road cyclists, and our goal here, Sunset Bat Flight Tour.

To “reserve your date with Nature,” they say, call 830-966-2320, and visit them on web here: http://www.hillcountryadventures.com .

This 2000 foot cave houses around 10 million Mexican free-tailed bats. Wear traction shoes, as there’s bat guano on floor of cave.

The history of this cave is fascinating, including fact it figured in a very unusual project involving bats at beginning of World War II. Bats were going to be fitted with “incendiary devices” and dropped like little fire bombs on Japan. I am not making this up. You can read about it in “Bat Bomb: World War II’s other Secret Weapons,” ( http:/ inyurl.com/26d2h ) by Jack Couffer, or on this website: http://www.chiropteraphilia.com/cavehistory.html .

You may wish to take home a jar of Guano-Gro, or a bat house, available here: http://www.hillcountryadventures.com/hca_store.htm .

Bat-watching can add an element of ecology and learning to your vacation trip. Combine it with a spring trip when wildflowers are in bloom! If, when you get back home, you want to build your own bat house for many endangered species of bats, there are instructions here: http://www.nps.gov/wica/bats.htm .