Friday, October 5, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
The Passion of the Black HIlls Passion Play in Spearfish, South Dakota
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The Stars at Night, Are Big and Bright, Deep in the Heart of Texas, and Often Accompanied by Bats
The Stars at Night, Are Big and Bright, Deep in the Heart of Texas, and Often Accompanied by Bats
Ooops. Oh those engineers. When they reconstructed the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas in 1980, they inadvertently created a unique ECO-TOURISM DESTINATION, and an experience not available many places in the world. The bridge was evidently the perfect roosting place for bats and now houses the largest urban bat colony in North America. Yes, not only does Texas have the Alamo, it’s very batty! The largest bat colony in the world is also near San Antonio (about 60 miles from Austin).
Who knew?
A huge colony roosts under this bridge in downtown Austin, and when they egress of a summer night to go out and hunt for food, it is a sight to behold. I have taken visitors of all ages to see the spectacle and even the teenagers (you know how hard they are to impress, or admit it) sat spellbound. It’s just creepy enough. For driving directions and map, go here: http://www.batcon.org/discover/congress_map_outoftowners.html .
Popular? It’s estimated that over 100,000 people come to see the bats fly out every year, generating a healthy hunk of change for the city of Austin.
The spectacle has all the elements of a good watch – mystery, a bit of the creeps, expec-TA-shun, and results that don’t disappoint. Tension builds as dusk falls and all eyes turn to the bridge, waiting. Then you see one bat and the crowd cheers, then another, then a million. Silently they head out into the night and to think of where all those bats are heading – well, I often saw them dive-bombing my swimming pool at night.
Of course the City had to do some educating when the public became, um, upset about all the 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats that migrate from Mexico to call the bridge their home from mid-March to early November. I’d call that “wintering in Texas,” but, okay, it’s a migration.
Do we love bats? Well, we don’t like to touch them – no joke, don’t ever mess with a bat. But we must appreciate the fact that those bats heading out across Austin can each eat 600 mosquitoes in an hour and won’t poison the environment. They also pollinate plants. (Other favorites include many crop pests such as cutworms, cucumber beetles, and corn borer moths.) 600 mosquitoes x 1.5 million bats x 8 night hours? You do the math! For a quickie on bat lore, go here: http://www.nps.gov/wica/bats.htm .
Might you get rabies? According to the National Park Service, only 10 humans have contracted rabies from bats in more than 30 years. Most people who do die of rabies contract it from our much better friend, the dog. In the Austin-area, bat rich as it is, there have been no recorded human cases of bat-transmitted rabies.
It sort of adds to the excitement of the adventure, but when you’re sitting there looking up, how would you catch one? If one falls to the ground, it is probably injured or sick, and your animal-lore in general will tell you to leave any wild animal alone. In this case, just get away. And if you like to grub around under the bridge, assuming you could, well, haven’t you heard about guano? Ick!
According to experts, bats are rarely aggressive, even when injured, and do we appreciate them ecologically? I haven’t checked, but I doubt if you’re swatting a lot of mosquitoes as you sit there watching.
And, hey, it could happen anywhere. The BCI warns, “Persons who wake up with a bat in the same room [now where might that be?] where they have been sleeping are advised to submit it for testing, especially if the bat is unable to fly or seems weak.”
Now wouldn’t you rather
have the bats out in the open heading for insects than in a room with you!
Yes, you would.
I’ll throw my personal experience in here. Incredibly my son and I were draped around a statue across from the Alamo trying to get a good view of some president who was arriving, when a bat torpedoed into the statue and fell, stunned, at our feet. While mothers and kids screamed, the former in fear, and the latter in delight, the poor bat just flailed around. You could’ve picked it up with gloves, but we just walked away. It was unable to fly, and uninterested in humans.
But let me stress again, there’s no heroism involved; the bats coming from the bridge are far away and they’re on a mission. You might suggest to thrill the older children, if you’re that type, that they are going to turn your way, but they have a plan and I guess they’re herd animals. What would you do anyway? Whistle?
One way you can view them is from a cruise on Capital Cruise Boats (http://www.capitalcruises.com/html/bat.htm ) or Lone Star River Boats.
Another way is sitting on the outside bat-viewing decks of TGI Friday’s in the Radisson Hotel on Town Lake, and the Shoreline Bar & Grill restaurant in the Hyatt-Regency Austin hotel. If I bring adults, we usually enjoy a gourmet meal at the latter. If I bring kids or teens, TGI Fridays is the place.
When do they leave? Depends on time of year, weather conditions, colony size and bat mood. But
Ooops. Oh those engineers. When they reconstructed the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas in 1980, they inadvertently created a unique ECO-TOURISM DESTINATION, and an experience not available many places in the world. The bridge was evidently the perfect roosting place for bats and now houses the largest urban bat colony in North America. Yes, not only does Texas have the Alamo, it’s very batty! The largest bat colony in the world is also near San Antonio (about 60 miles from Austin).
Who knew?
A huge colony roosts under this bridge in downtown Austin, and when they egress of a summer night to go out and hunt for food, it is a sight to behold. I have taken visitors of all ages to see the spectacle and even the teenagers (you know how hard they are to impress, or admit it) sat spellbound. It’s just creepy enough. For driving directions and map, go here: http://www.batcon.org/discover/congress_map_outoftowners.html .
Popular? It’s estimated that over 100,000 people come to see the bats fly out every year, generating a healthy hunk of change for the city of Austin.
The spectacle has all the elements of a good watch – mystery, a bit of the creeps, expec-TA-shun, and results that don’t disappoint. Tension builds as dusk falls and all eyes turn to the bridge, waiting. Then you see one bat and the crowd cheers, then another, then a million. Silently they head out into the night and to think of where all those bats are heading – well, I often saw them dive-bombing my swimming pool at night.
Of course the City had to do some educating when the public became, um, upset about all the 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats that migrate from Mexico to call the bridge their home from mid-March to early November. I’d call that “wintering in Texas,” but, okay, it’s a migration.
Do we love bats? Well, we don’t like to touch them – no joke, don’t ever mess with a bat. But we must appreciate the fact that those bats heading out across Austin can each eat 600 mosquitoes in an hour and won’t poison the environment. They also pollinate plants. (Other favorites include many crop pests such as cutworms, cucumber beetles, and corn borer moths.) 600 mosquitoes x 1.5 million bats x 8 night hours? You do the math! For a quickie on bat lore, go here: http://www.nps.gov/wica/bats.htm .
Might you get rabies? According to the National Park Service, only 10 humans have contracted rabies from bats in more than 30 years. Most people who do die of rabies contract it from our much better friend, the dog. In the Austin-area, bat rich as it is, there have been no recorded human cases of bat-transmitted rabies.
It sort of adds to the excitement of the adventure, but when you’re sitting there looking up, how would you catch one? If one falls to the ground, it is probably injured or sick, and your animal-lore in general will tell you to leave any wild animal alone. In this case, just get away. And if you like to grub around under the bridge, assuming you could, well, haven’t you heard about guano? Ick!
According to experts, bats are rarely aggressive, even when injured, and do we appreciate them ecologically? I haven’t checked, but I doubt if you’re swatting a lot of mosquitoes as you sit there watching.
And, hey, it could happen anywhere. The BCI warns, “Persons who wake up with a bat in the same room [now where might that be?] where they have been sleeping are advised to submit it for testing, especially if the bat is unable to fly or seems weak.”
Now wouldn’t you rather
have the bats out in the open heading for insects than in a room with you!
Yes, you would.
I’ll throw my personal experience in here. Incredibly my son and I were draped around a statue across from the Alamo trying to get a good view of some president who was arriving, when a bat torpedoed into the statue and fell, stunned, at our feet. While mothers and kids screamed, the former in fear, and the latter in delight, the poor bat just flailed around. You could’ve picked it up with gloves, but we just walked away. It was unable to fly, and uninterested in humans.
But let me stress again, there’s no heroism involved; the bats coming from the bridge are far away and they’re on a mission. You might suggest to thrill the older children, if you’re that type, that they are going to turn your way, but they have a plan and I guess they’re herd animals. What would you do anyway? Whistle?
One way you can view them is from a cruise on Capital Cruise Boats (http://www.capitalcruises.com/html/bat.htm ) or Lone Star River Boats.
Another way is sitting on the outside bat-viewing decks of TGI Friday’s in the Radisson Hotel on Town Lake, and the Shoreline Bar & Grill restaurant in the Hyatt-Regency Austin hotel. If I bring adults, we usually enjoy a gourmet meal at the latter. If I bring kids or teens, TGI Fridays is the place.
When do they leave? Depends on time of year, weather conditions, colony size and bat mood. But
50 Cents on the Dollar in the Dominican Republic
50 Cents on the Dollar in the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a tin-pot third world banana republic.
There is extreme poverty everywhere and complete government mismanagement. Things have gotten even worse with the new president Leonel Fernandez. He has devalued the dollar by 50% and raised taxes and prices to insure poverty for his people. There is no money- dollars or pesos in circulation. The only people who have it worse are the neighboring Haitans!
The dollar exchange rate continues to decline and the prices continue to rise. There are people striking and hunger and poverty in the streets. Every day the merchants can be seen raising their prices out of greed and hoping that no one will notice. I went shopping and noticed that the Super Polo and La Sirena stores
seem to be particularly guilty of this practice of raising prices daily. The Denny’s store in Santiago seems to be the only store that is not gouging consumers.
Their Zona Franca that exports products can barely keep their doors open from the 50% devaluation of the dollar in the Dominican Republic. Their tourism has taken a sharp decline. It seems things were better with the previous president Hippolito Mejia.
It is still a great place for a Caribbean vacation. I recommend you compare prices with other Caribbean destinations with the sharp devaluation of the dollar.
An American observer.
The Dominican Republic is a tin-pot third world banana republic.
There is extreme poverty everywhere and complete government mismanagement. Things have gotten even worse with the new president Leonel Fernandez. He has devalued the dollar by 50% and raised taxes and prices to insure poverty for his people. There is no money- dollars or pesos in circulation. The only people who have it worse are the neighboring Haitans!
The dollar exchange rate continues to decline and the prices continue to rise. There are people striking and hunger and poverty in the streets. Every day the merchants can be seen raising their prices out of greed and hoping that no one will notice. I went shopping and noticed that the Super Polo and La Sirena stores
seem to be particularly guilty of this practice of raising prices daily. The Denny’s store in Santiago seems to be the only store that is not gouging consumers.
Their Zona Franca that exports products can barely keep their doors open from the 50% devaluation of the dollar in the Dominican Republic. Their tourism has taken a sharp decline. It seems things were better with the previous president Hippolito Mejia.
It is still a great place for a Caribbean vacation. I recommend you compare prices with other Caribbean destinations with the sharp devaluation of the dollar.
An American observer.
About the Author
My name is Bob Kelly. I am a retired insurance agent who enjoys traveling to exotic and interesting tropical destinations.
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