My hosts drove us to the University of Florida Bat Houses to wait for the bats to fly out at dusk. WOW! They were something to see. Hard to focus as it was getting dark and they were flitting and flying.
And then as we stood there, a strong aroma filled the air. P- ewwww!
We watched the murmuration of bats in the sky. Thousands and thousands of bats. Creating dark clouds of undulating patterns. Off to eat insects until dawn.
People waiting to see the bats emerge at dusk.
The Bat Houses at the University of Florida
Bats from the Bathouses at the University of Florida.
Joanne filmed the bats on my phone
A nice lady took our photo in front of the Bat Houses.
We talked about expressions with BAT(not baseball) in them
Like a Bat out of Hell
Blind as a Bat
Gone Batty
Batsh*t Crazy
Don’t Bat an Eye
Bats in the Belfry
from the Free Dictionary- “have bats in the belfry (old-fashioned)
Wow! I hope they ate a lot of insects!
bats in the belfry – bah!
glad I kept on reading after the video- which was nice by the way.
this was such a unique thing to see –
– we saw a “bird cloud” the other day – and that was cool – but this bat swarm at dusk is just so rare
A bird cloud? Nice! Thanks Yvette.
yes, I did grab a photo – not sure if it came out – have a ncie day
Fascinating creatures and very silent.
Smelly, huh? They are a bit weird and I’ve never been sure if I liked them. Don’t suppose they think much of me either 🙂 Bat out of hell always reminds me of Meatloaf!
That is crazy – Hesh and I saw something similar at the “Bat Bridge” in Austin.
Last summer I tried to convince 2 bats that they don’t live in our closed patio umbrellas. I would open the umbrellas every afternoon and they would fly off elsewhere. The next day they would be back again. Very persistent.
Ugh. They made themselves at home. Unwanted guests, for sure.
These murmurations – great word, Ruth – fascinate me. When in Australia, I noticed what I thought was a flock of large birds in the distance at dusk. When they got close, I saw that they were actually large bats. I was a bit shocked, to say the least, but could’t take my eyes off of them. They repeated the flight every night we remained in Cairns.
Amazing creatures, aren’t they?
1) Simultaneously wow, ick, ewwww, and amazing.
2) Madonna once wrote/sang a song with the lyric, “There’s bats in my belfry, make sure the straight jacket’s tight, otherwise I might get myself free…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-JgNduaHgA
I’ve been hearing and using the phrase “batsh*t crazy” to a batty degree lately. Love all the battiness here, Ruth.