We recently went to Gainesville, FL right after New Years. We saw many creatures. A half million of them, give or take a few hundred.
The University Of Florida in Gainesville had a problem. Their famed sports stadium was home to thousands of bats. They swarmed out at people at inappropriate times, like during night games, and they exuded noxious odors. The decision was made to build the bats three houses where they could roost during the day. It took several years for the bats to adapt to their new abode, but now they apparently love it. Every evening when the temperature is above 65°, the bats swarm out at dusk to go hunting for food. And to mate. They hunt all night and come back in the early morning. Citizens of Gainesville know about this and often bring guests and visitors to witness the emergence of the bats.
We went there shortly before dusk and camped out on the benches. You could smell them, so we knew they were lurking. Then they came. For fifteen minutes we were deluged with half a million bats.
For more info about the bats, click UF Bat Houses.
Peter Bates
Peter Bates is a writer and photographer living in Florida. He is the administrator of this blog and runs the blog Stylus.
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How cool, Peter. Love the story and video. They look like pinwheels when you zoom in on them. I saw the bats swarm out from the bridge in Austin once. The sheer numbers are staggering.
I’m glad you liked it, Wendy. It was thrilling to watch.
Terrific, Peter. Do you have a link to more info about the specific bat species?
Yes, the link at the bottom of my text talks about the three species of bats.
very cool. Once i finish up my SF stints, from now to March 25, Ill try to look into more of the Bodega projec.
Great. It always focuses on something of a photographic nature. Soon to come will be my latest timelapse of Danny’s All American Diner.
Super! I tried to count them but couldn’t keep up.
What? I had no trouble at all. Exactly 502,225 bats emerged. One dove to the ground to get a grub, so I didn’t count him.