I just returned from our Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX. Many of us visited Bracken Cave to experience the emergence of tens of millions of Mexican Free Tail bats. It was an incredible experience!

There are about 20 million bats that migrate to the cave each spring. Once the babies are born in early June there are over 35 million bats.

Each evening, the bats leave the cave to feed. They exit the cave and begin flying in a huge vortex near the entrance before peeling off into a single ribbon that snakes through the sky toward the horizon. There are so many bats trying to exit the small opening that it takes several hours to complete.

The vortex they create is a seemingly unending mass of bats. An occasional albino bat offers some perspective on how quickly they enter and depart the vortex. The white of the albino really stands out in the sea of brown; doing one or two laps in the vortex before peeling off into the river of bats flowing toward the horizon.

The most exciting part for me was standing under the river of bats. All you hear is the rushing wind created by the sound of all those beating wings. It is truly an amazing experience.

Bracken Cave is not open to the general public. It is owned and managed by Bat Conservation International. Check out their website, www.batcon.org, to learn how you can visit Bracken Cave.

Where have you experienced interesting bat emergences?