Erkert James River Cave - Texas, USA
Southwest of the town of Mason near State Highway 29 in Mason County in Texas sits the Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve—one of the largest bat nurseries in the country. The Erkert James River Cave is managed by The Nature Conservancy. About 4 million female bats inhabit the site from May through September.
Video copyright Bat Conservation International
Eckert James Bat Cave
The Conservancy's Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve in the Texas Hill Country town of Mason provides a ring side seat the the nightly emergence of of 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats.
The Nature Conservancy: Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve
The Eckert James River Bat Cave is one of the largest bat nurseries in the country.
Southwest of the town of Mason near State Highway 29 in Mason County sits the Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve—one of the largest bat nurseries in the country. About 4 million female bats inhabit the site from May through September. Most of these are pregnant when they arrive. In the Bat Cave, females give birth to a single pup in June or July. The young bats grow rapidly and are able to fly at about five weeks of age. However, they will remain with their mothers until they return to Mexico in October.
An hour or two before sunset, hundreds of bats flutter and chirp around the mouth of the cave. Slowly, a stream of bats emerges and flies in a large circle, low to the ground, just outside the cave entrance. These bats gradually spiral upwards and form a dark funnel of flying mammals, reaching several hundred feet into the evening sky. The bats at the top of the spiral break off, forming columns that stream out over the countryside. This seemingly impossible torrent of bats forms a densely packed bat tornado for about an hour.
Millions of Mexican free-tailed bats can be seen here. Like all bat species, the free-tailed population at the Bat Cave is an integral part of regional ecology. For many years, however, bats were considered menacing creatures to be avoided or destroyed. Thanks to the work of biologists and groups like Bat Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy, this groundless reputation is slowly being corrected.
Bats are finally gaining recognition for their important ecological roles. They are agents of seed dispersal and cross-pollination for many plant species. Bats also control insect populations. They scour thousands of acres of countryside each night searching for food. During these nightly excursions, each bat consumes close to its body weight in insects. Included in their diet are mosquitoes and numerous crop pests such as cutworm and corn borer moths.
This unique preserve is home to one of the largest aggregations of warm-blooded animals in the world. Because these and other bat species roost in such large numbers, colonies could be destroyed by a single act of vandalism. The free-tailed bat population has declined dramatically in some areas of the country. This decrease is largely attributed to the disturbance and destruction of roost sites by humans, usually leading either to total evacuation of the roost or complete decimation of the site's entire population. Because free-tailed bats give birth to only a single pup each year, a population's recovery rate is slow.
Richard Phillip Eckert and Virginia Eckert Garrett donated the cave to The Nature Conservancy in honor of their father, Lee Eckert, and grandfather, W. Phillip Eckert. The Eckert family acquired the property in 1907 when W. Phillip purchased the ranch on which the cave was located. In the early 1900s, W. Phillip mined the bat guano in the cave and sold it to local farmers for crop fertilizer. W. Phillip's son, Lee Eckert, continued his father's legacy of bat conservation and guano mining and left the site to his wife and children when he passed away in 1967.
This generation of Eckerts wanted to ensure permanent protection of the bats, so in 1990 they donated the cave to the Conservancy on condition that the land around the cave remain open to the public for enjoyment and education, as it had been for more than 100 years.
The management plan developed by Bat Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy prevents human entrance to the cave during maternal activity, controls visitation, monitors the bat population and protects the cave opening. Scientific research continues at the site and the cave remains open to scientists throughout most of the year.
Visit:
James River Bat Cave Preserve
Southwest of the town of Mason near State Highway 29 in Mason County sits the Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve—one of the largest bat nurseries in the country. About 4 million female bats inhabit the site from May through September. Most of these are pregnant when they arrive. In the Bat Cave, females give birth to a single pup in June or July. The young bats grow rapidly and are able to fly at about five weeks of age. However, they will remain with their mothers until they return to Mexico in October.~nature.org
Millions of Mexican free-tailed bats can be seen here. Like all bat species, the free-tailed population at the Bat Cave is an integral part of regional ecology. For many years, however, bats were considered menacing creatures to be avoided or destroyed. Thanks to the work of biologists and groups like Bat Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy, this groundless reputation is slowly being corrected.~nature.org
Eckert James River Bat Cave
A small sample of footage from a brilliant night watching Brazilian freetail bats emerging from a cave in Texas. The site is managed by The Nature Conservancy and by bat cave steward Vicki Ritter.
Bat emergence - Eckert James River Bat Cave
A quick clip of the Tadarida brasiliensis bat emergence at the Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve, south of Mason, TX. Not much to the video, but you can visit to learn more about the site.
Bat Emergence at Eckert James River Cave - custodian catches bat
James River Road slick crossing in Mason County, Texas
Video of the very slippery James River Road crossing the James River in Mason County, Texas
Mason Texas James river low water crossing
About fifty yards
Hill Country to Mason
May 2018 drive from Bee Cave to Mason in a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. This is an easy two day drive on mostly non-paved county roads. Caution should be used when crossing creek and river beds during periods of rain.
Links to GoogleMaps:
Hwy 71 in Bee Cave to Round Mountain
Round Mountain to Hwy 16
Hwy 16 to Loyal Valley
Loyal Valley to Dos Rios Campgrounds
Dos Dios Campgrounds to Mason
James River Road water crossing Hill Country TX May 31 2014 Forester
Crossing the James River South of Mason Texas heading Northbound in a 2013 Subaru Forester XT on 235/60R17 Cooper Discoverer AT3s. Water depth was about a foot. Shot with a Gopro Hero2 with a loose mount (grrrr, didn't check all the thumbscrews for tightness).
Life In The Hill Country - Road Trip - Mason Courthouse and Town Square
Hank and Jay go to Mason Texas
Bats Emerging from Old Tunnel State Park Fredericksburg TX
20,000 bats emerging at sunset to go feed in the valley. Truly an astonishing moment!
Our Mason, Tx Loop Ride 03/29/2012
We took some roads we hadn't rode before - the flowers were beautiful and lots of cattle!!!! I highly suggest these roads to ride. Enjoy!
Terracraft TC2 From Hill Country Rv Resort in Medina, Tx to Bandera Crossing Resort in Bandera, Tx
a little Blast in Terracraft TC2 Reverse Autonomous Leaning Super Trike from Medina, Tx to Bandera, Tx in the Texas Hill Country. Sorry about wind noise, most time over triple digits and out of my control
Goat Cave (Austin TX.)
This is just one of hundreds of caves spred out in a vast network here in the Texas Hill country. What's hilly above is often vast and empty below. The area is mostly limestone, granite. The Edwards Aquifer runs below ground right thru my neighborhood. This cave is just 1/2 a mile away from me. :O )
It's closed to all but researchers. Geee I wish I was going in with these guys. . .
Grunts Frozen Yogurt Mason TX
Bat Caves of Texas - Texas Parks and Wildlife [Official]
A tour of some of the best viewing spots in Texas for Mexican free-tailed bats. Meet a bat up close and get an inside view of how bats live.