During the day, the air around the roof of Jubilee Highland Hills on Goliad Road is clear. But Cassandra Estrada said last week, around 6 a.m., she heard an unusual sound around the charter school.

Bats are incredibly important to the South Texas ecosystem.

The Mexican free-tailed bat, which roosts under our freeways and in caves, even shows up on radars during their evening mass exodus to find food and eats an untold amount of bugs every spring and summer.

The Bracken Cave Preserve north of San Antonio is home to an estimated 20 million Mexican Free-tailed bats that are vital to our ecosystem.

You no longer have to travel to the San Antonio area to see the world’s largest bat colony — you can catch the action on your phone or desktop thanks to the Bat Channel.

The world’s largest bat colony can be found just 20 minutes outside of San Antonio and there are select dates over the summer when you can visit.

Meteorologists and weather experts in South Texas rely heavily on Doppler radar technology, but how does it work?

SAN ANTONIO – As the state was crippled by subfreezing temperatures, millions of people were left with out power, water and food for days. Hundreds of Mexican Free-tailed Bats were discovered dead under San Antonio bridges and underpasses. Camara said the Loop 410 and San Pedro underpass is home to one of the city’s largest colony of bats. Some bats froze to death and others died from impact injuries sustained after falling from 40 to 50-foot high bridges. Head injuries, back injuries, internal injuries.

ABILENE, Texas A bat found in the downtown area of Abilene has tested positive for rabies, according to city officials. Abilene Animal Services was aware of the bats positive rabies test on Sept. 4. Since the rabid bats sighting, Abilene city officials want to remind residents how to best stay safe from rabies exposure. Abilene Animal Services offers these safety tips:Do not feed, handle, or touch wild animals such as bats, skunks, and raccoons. If you come into contact with a suspected rabid animal in the Abilene area, contact Abilene Animal Services at 698-0085.

SAN ANTONIO Texas Parks and Wildlife has awarded a significant grant to Texas State University in an effort to better understand the threat of white-nose syndrome in Texas bats. TPWD is giving Texas State a $500,000 grant, making it one of the largest grants ever given by the department to study non-game wildlife, officials said. Here in Central Texas, bats aid farmers by eating the insects feeding on their crops and are estimated to save cotton farmers $74 per acre in pesticide use. Thus, it is unknown how susceptible Mexican free-tailed bats are to white-nose syndrome, said Texas State associate professor Ivan Castro-Arellano. The study will also identify weather-related and landscape habitat activity patterns for Texas bats in order to help predict the distribution and activity of priority bat species.

SAN ANTONIO Spurs legend Manu Ginobili paid a return visit to Bracken Cave, and he posted about it on Twitter. The cave is home to the worlds largest bat colony and is located just 20 minutes outside the city of San Antonio. Every June, the Mexican free-tailed bats at Bracken Cave give birth to one pup each, bringing the total population up to about 20 million bats. The former-Spur, who retired in 2018, swatted a bat out of mid-air during an NBA game in 2009. We recently visited again Bracken Cave, the largest bat colony in the world, only 20 miles from SA.

SAN ANTONIO The worlds largest bat colony can be found at Bracken Cave, just 20 minutes outside the city of San Antonio. Every June, the Mexican free-tailed bats at Bracken Cave give birth to one pup each, bringing the total population up to about 20 million bats. The pups start flying in July which makes visiting the cave in July and August the best for bat viewing, according to Bat Conservation International. They stay tight, like a river of bats, because of predators in the area, said Bracken Cave director Fran Hutchins. The fungus has already been detected on species of hibernating bats in North Texas counties and has also been detected at Bracken Cave.