What can drive a famous bat biologist absolutely giddy with
excitement? Or leave an experienced environmental educator
speechless in awe? Or make a seasoned wildlife videographer drop
his jaw – and his camera? The answer: Their first visit to watch
millions of bats emerge from Bracken Bat Cave. All this – and
much more – took place during the first-ever live webcast from
the popular Central Texas cave on September 18. The 93-minute
webcast, part of an ambitious distance-learning program, gave
educators around the United States and beyond some fascinating
lessons about bats, along with an especially awesome emergence
as countless Mexican free-tailed bats swirled up from the cave,
located just outside San Antonio, Texas. Bat Conservation
International owns and protects the cave, summer home for the
world's largest bat colony. |Sandy Frost of the U.S. Forest
Service watches the Bracken Cave bats during a webinar. Photo ©
James Eggers, BCI BCI is also a founding partner in the BatsLIVE
program, with the U.S. Fore