Waugh Bat Colony | Houston, Texas

Recently I heard of a little bat colony that lives in central Houston (and by "little" I mean 250,000 bats).  This bat colony calls Waugh Drive Bridge home despite its very central and very busy location. I had heard of bat bridges in places like Austin, but I was honestly really surprised to hear there was one my hometown. On a warm August night my two best friends and I grabbed some tacos before heading to Waugh Bridge to join the masses waiting for the bats. I had read online that the bats usually come out  around sunset, so we arrived 15 minutes before.

And then we waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Finally around 8:15pm (thirty minutes after sunset mind you), the bats began to emerge.  At first we couldn't see anything. It was just too dark. Finally they began to fly out by the thousands and you could see them everywhere. I'm not going to lie, our experience at the bat bridge was slightly disappointing. I has seen pictures and snapchats where the bats had come out with plenty of light still out. Yes, it was still a cool experience but waiting 45 minutes while being eaten by mosquitos wasn't exactly my idea of a fun Saturday night.

My suggestions?
+ Show up right at sunset
+ Bring a blanket to sit on
+ Spray yourself with mosquito repellant
+ Don't be disappointed when all your pictures of the bats turn out to be weird gray blurs (see examples below).

Yes, those gray looking cloud things are bats. 

 The Waugh bats are unique because they don't migrate south to Mexico during the winter meaning you can see them take flight year round. However, the best months to see the Waugh Bat Colony are August and September. Parking is very limited, so expect to walk quite a bit to get to the bridge!

Happy Wednesday!
xoxo