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Caves aren't the only place that bats
"hang out". Bats also sleep in trees, mines, under
bridges, in bushes and even in old buildings or barns. Some tiny
South American bats make tent-like shelters out of palm tree leaves.
Bats that might have typically lived in
caves have begun to adapt to urban life by modifying their behavior to
live in man made structures in the city. The largest urban bat
colony is under the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas. The
bridge is home to about 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats. To put
that in perspective, Austin is home to only a little over 1.5 million
people -- there are nearly as many bats living under the bridge as there
people living in the entire city! |
Watching the bats take off each
evening on the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas has become
quite a tourist attraction.
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