DYK: San Antonio is minutes away from the LARGEST bat colony in the world?

SAN ANTONIO

If you take a short trip north of San Antonio in Garden Ridge, Texas you will see the Bracken Cave Preserve: the summer home to more than 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats!

 

Fun facts about bats:

 

  • Bats eat 50% of their body weight in insects per day
  • Bats weigh a little less than half an ounce 
  • 20 million bats eat around 312,500 pounds of insects a day

 

Smaller colonies of bats exist in and around San Antonio, like the vastly smaller colony of 50,000 Mexican free-tailed bat bachelors that live under the Camden Street Bridge near the San Antonio River.

 

There are even festivals around San Antonio to honor bats!

 

6th Annual Bat Loco Bash 

  • Date: Tuesday, Aug. 7 
  • Time: 6 pm- 9 pm
  • Location: Camden Street Bridge, San Antonio, TX 

 

The Tricentennial 6th Annual Bat Loco Bash is free and fun for the whole family. If you love bats you don't want to miss it!

 

For more fun facts about San Antonio, visit  ksat.com/sa300.

 

Information courtesy of Bracken Cave Preserve.


About the Authors:

David Elder is the host and executive producer of the food and travel show Texas Eats on ABC KSAT 12

Kiersten has been a Digital Content Creator with KSAT12 since 2017. She graduated from Texas State University with an electronic media degree and previously worked for the Spurs Sports & Entertainment.