Texas Bats

Texas is home to some of the largest Mexican Free-Tailed bat colonies in the country. Bracken Cave, located in San Antonio, is home to the worlds largest bat colony, with upwards of 20 Million Mexican Free-Tailed Bats, during maternity season. Bats are the second largest group of mammals in the world and are the most active in the months of February through November. During the late spring, female bats form maternity colonies, usually beginning between late April to early June and ending mid to late August. These bats will give birth in the summer; each mother having just one baby, or pup. These pups will all live together in one area of the cave or structure and typically take 4 to 6 weeks before they are able to fly. During this time, while the pups are unable to fly, the mothers will continue to feed and care for them. Once the pups are old enough to fly, they will begin joining the rest of the colony each night as they leave to feed. Bats will almost always leave in very large groups and can be hard to miss if you look in the right place!

When left alone, bats are harmless and very beneficial to our ecosystem. Mexican Free-tailed bats eat mosquitos, moths, beetles and other insects. They can eat up to 50% of their bodyweight in insects, per day! Large colonies of Mexican Free-tailed bats can eat several tons of insects each night.

While bat colonies do prefer to live in caves, such as Bracken Cave, bats do have species specific roost needs and their preferences very by season, region, climate and activity. Some bats will use man made structures, like buildings and schools.

When there are very few, bats aren’t much of a problem. But when the colony grows in size issues can begin, and this is typically due to guano buildup. But, even with small bat colonies, it is always better to deal with this issue sooner than later. Bats can live a very long time and will typically stay in the same place their entire lives. In situations where bats and humans make contact, it is very important to prevent a negative outcome. Commercial Bat Control will always provide a safe, chemical free and humane exclusion to, safely, keep bats out.