Bat Ballet: Slo-mo footage reveals how thousands of bats emerge from a cave without injury
Bat Ballet: Slo-mo footage reveals how thousands of bats emerge from a cave without injury
BY EARTH TOUCH NEWS OCTOBER 31 2018
Every summer evening, deep in the Hill Country of central Texas, hundreds of thousands
of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) pour from the mouth of a limestone
cave. The pungent smell of guano and the rush of sound and air from so many wings
beating at once is an experience that truly
overwhelms the senses. Then, just like that,
overwhelms the senses. Then, just like that,
it’s over—in a matter of minutes, members
of the entire colony have emerged from the
of the entire colony have emerged from the
cave and disappeared into the dusk for their
nightly foraging flight.
nightly foraging flight.
To the naked eye, in real-time, the colony
exodus is a blur of wings and bodies moving
exodus is a blur of wings and bodies moving
too fast to track. Yet somehow, the entire
colony manages to exit the cave, night after
colony manages to exit the cave, night after
night, without traffic jams or (many)
casualties. How do they achieve this incredible
casualties. How do they achieve this incredible
feat? Scientists Nickolay Hristov and Louise
Allen set out to answer this question.
Allen set out to answer this question.
Using high-speed video cameras, they have
captured these events — and
captured these events — and
interactions among individual bats — in
spectacular detail. Now, frame by frame,
spectacular detail. Now, frame by frame,
they are discovering that it’s not always
necessary for nature to come up with
necessary for nature to come up with
the perfect solution — just one that’s
good enough.
good enough.
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