I’ve been working with the local Nature Conservancy people to create a better set of maps and directions using GPS to get to the Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve, which is not to far from where I live.  After many hours of work, both on the ground and on the computer, I finally got all the information and high quality topographic maps of the surrounding area put together and ready for them to have for their visitors.

The bat cave is only about 35 or 40 miles from my house but the drive is amazing.  Along the back country roads passing places like Tea Cup Mountain, Red Creek, Poverty Hill, the Blue Mountains, Cedar Gap, Little Devil’s River, Steam Mountain, Salt Creek, and other strangely named places that makes one wonder about the history of the surrounding area.

The wildlife viewing is always great on the way to the Bat Cave.  Usually I’ll see 50 to 60 Whitetail Deer, but on this trip there were only about 20.  In addition to the deer, there were also a couple of dozen Rio Grade Turkey, a Llano Pocket Gopher, a couple of Raccoons, a Hispid Pocket Mouse, several Cotton-tail Rabbits, a Bobcat, an Opossum, numerous birds, a Coach Whip Snake, a Bigfoot (just kidding), and of course, about 6 ½ million Mexican Free Tailed Bats.

It was the perfect way to spend a Saturday evening.  The Nature Conservancy has a real jewel here, which it shares with the public.  It is one of the best places to go and see a bat emergence.  I’ve been to dozens of places to view bats and none come close to the intimacy and up close perspective that the James River Bat Cave provides.