The Atlas Obscura Podcast · Monday, August 31, 2026
The 'emergence' of bats from Bracken Cave is a lengthy process, taking over three and a half hours for all the bats to exit. Ryan Huling described the spectacle as a 'tornado of millions of Mexican freetailed bats spiraling towards the heavens,' with bats flying up to 10,000 feet high.
“At its peak, Bracken Cave's population is so dense that it takes over three and a half hours for every bat to hurdle out of the cave's bottleneck entrance, creating a tiny plume of flapping wings that resembles a snake, extending out into the evening sky.”
“And I learned as I was there that they actually saw up to 10,000 feet.”