Bats Archives

Critters|

February 21, 2024

Hard Freezes Are Killing Texas Bats

Tens of thousands of Texas bats have died from freezes since 2021. It could take decades for the population to recover.

By Jess McHugh

Critters|

October 13, 2023

The Ghost-Faced Bat Is So Ugly It’s Cute

Found along Texas’s southwestern border, the creature has a mug only a mother could love.

By Rose Cahalan

Travel & Outdoors|

August 28, 2023

Sip Wine, Watch Bats, and Paddle the Llano River in Cozy Mason

The home of Old Yeller, this scenic Hill Country getaway also has a beautifully restored courthouse.

By Pam LeBlanc

Travel|

August 9, 2023

Swing by Texas’s Smallest State Park to See Three Million Bats Soar From an Old Railroad Tunnel

Austin’s urban bat colony has nothing on this.

By Saba Khonsari

Critters|

August 24, 2022

Inside the Fight Between Texas’s Most Infamous Prison and Almost One Million Bats

The Huntsville penitentiary wants to tear down the abandoned warehouse where a massive bat colony spends half the year. Locals and conservationists have banded together to find an alternate solution.

By Emily McCullar

Critters|

April 7, 2022

Texans, Meet Your Adorable, Bloodthirsty New Neighbors

Given the choice between an influx of vampire bats and an influx of tech bros in Patagonia vests . . .

By Madeleine Aggeler

Seek the Wild in Outdoor Country

There is no greater adventure than getting out and exploring Texas’s natural beauty. Will Roman, founder of Chisos Boot Company, agrees. In partnership with BMW, he’s traveling the Lone Star State in search of his next big adventure in the great Texas outdoors.

By TM Studio

Critters|

March 10, 2021

Do Thousands of Bat Deaths Mean Texans Will Face a Mosquito-Ridden Summer?

Last month’s winter storm decimated the state’s populations of the winged mammals, which may have lasting ecological effects.

By Tara Haelle

Critters|

May 5, 2020

As the Pandemic Inflames Old Fears, Texas’s ‘Bat Man’ Urges: Don’t Blame Bats

Merlin Tuttle has spent his career dispelling myths about bats. Now he’s defending them once again.

By Patricia Sharpe

Critters|

August 26, 2019

Can Texas Bats Be Saved?

If Texas biologists can prevent an outbreak of white-nose syndrome, caused by a fast-spreading fungus, they may provide a new national model for bat conservation.

By Dan Oko