Bats on the Bayou

Houstonist couldn’t begin posting fast enough to talk about our new favorite neighbors, the colony of Mexican freetail bats living under the Waugh Drive bridge over Buffalo Bayou. The 250,000 bats come out from under the bridge at sunset, heading toward downtown to feed on moths, mosquitoes and unsuspecting secretaries. This is actually a patriotic thing: The Mexican freetail is the official state flying mammal of Texas. Which Houstonist already knew, of course.

What’s unusual about the Waugh colony is that it lives under the bridge year-round, whereas others in Texas head south for the winter (take that, Austin!) — which makes it handy for those of us who don’t like standing on pavement in 250-degree summer heat. The third Friday of every month, volunteers are out on the bridge to answer questions, and the Buffalo Bayou Partnership is planning to give bat-viewing boat tours. (Before you go, you’ll wanna check out bat facts — also handy for Trivial Pursuit, we’re sure.)