May 2011

Have You Ever Been to Bat Alley? - By Wilt Alston  “My roommate got a pet elephant. Then it got lost. It's in the apartment somewhere.”  ~ Steven Wright Right on the heels of my last column, all about where running could take you, I visited Houston, TX, for the NCAA Final Four.  (As I mentioned before as well, this trip is part of our annual bonding ritual.  In case you’re wondering, a great time was had by all.)  And as was the case when I visited the places chronicled in that previous column, this trip yielded yet another epic run and with it, a running story begging to be retold.  And yes, apropos the quote above, I got lost as well, although that epic won’t be retold here. If you’ve not visited Houston, you should.  For one thing, the weather is great.  One should probably admit that a person who lives in Rochester might tend to have a bit of a skewed impression of good weather.  When you’re experiencing “wintry mix” while most places with pseudo-normal weather are noticing a giant orange ball in the sky and temperatures north of 75 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s easy to have low expectations.  This year, though, a new standard was set for usual discoveries, although the term “discovery” is likely misplaced.  You see, Houston’s Bat Alley is far from unknown.  (For more information, see this link:  http://www.buffalobayou.org/documents/BatPDF.pdf ) The star on the map (see link) marks the more or less official location of the Waugh Drive Bat Colony, although the bats habitat is actually under the overpass at Waugh Drive.  As I ran down the Buffalo Bayou Park Trail toward the overpass, I kept seeing signs, some of them looking hand-written, that said things like, “Bat Alley Ahead!” with crudely-drawn pictures of bats.  Many of these pictures appeared to be the types one might find scrawled on a picnic bench after a frat party.  Some of the signs, however, were more official looking, similar to road signs along any street.  I ignored them all.  Then, as I approached the Waugh Street Overpass, I noticed several warning signs, one of which said, “Do Not Touch Grounded Bats.”  Hey, that’s strange, I thought.  (Still no clue.  As my buddy Foghorn Leghorn might say, “I say, I say, sharp as a bowling ball, son!) Then I actually passed under the overpass.  Two things were readily apparent.  One, the smell—somewhat overwhelming, I might add—of guano.  One could also see the guano covering the concrete on either side under the bridge.  Apparently a couple hundred thousand bats tend to generate quite a bit of waste.  The second thing that was readily apparent:  the sound.  There was a loud chirping, somewhat like birds in a tree.  Somewhat hesitantly, I looked up, and saw…nothing.  The bats were inside their “habitat,” the expansion joints of the bridge, which apparently are exactly the right size for Mexican Free-Tailed Bats, the species that lives at Waugh Drive Bat Alley. In pretty much typical fashion, I continued the rest of what turned out to be a 6-mile run.  Further down the trail, I passed another runner headed back toward Bat Alley, and for a moment thought to warn him.  Then it dawned on me that people running those trails were:  a) very likely aware of the habitat; and b) less likely to ignore the many signs and be surprised.  In any event, Houston’s many running trails are excellent, with nice scenery, lots of hard-packed dirt, some gravel, a good bit of paved path, a network of inter-connecting bridges, and, as I noted, one very large colony of bats.  Maybe next time, I’ll venture back to the trail near dusk, when the bats can be seen exiting the colony en masse.  Word has it that a bat colony that size taking flight is visible on weather radar.  Ah, the places where running can take you.