Looking to move to Austin...

[Neo Sharkey 117]

Hi everyone

I've had a job offer in Austin, and was wondering if you could answer a few questions for my wife.

My wife is afraid of bats, and saw a bit on the net about the Congress Avenue Bridge Bats. Do you actually see the bats around Austin and Leander? Is it a regular thing to see them around, or just right when they fly out from the bridge at dusk?

How do the schools handle the heat? Is there a temperature where they keep the kids indoors and out of the heat?

Thanks!

 

[Chirpy]

You don't normally see bats unless you're under the bridge when they come out.

Only five or six kids a week die per school. It's considered necessary collateral damage in order to indoctrinate the remainder.

The second paragraph was a joke.

 

[Chupacabra Hunter]

Welcome... I don't live in Austin, but I'll answer your questions... 1. bats are nothing to be afraid of.. 2. What heat? It's always hot in Texas.
What state are you moving from?

 

[jrbfishn]

Bats are not a big problem and neither is the heat. Where are you moving from?

 

[Dash Riprock]

You see bats on occasion, but certainly not enough to make anybody not move here, I wouldn't think. As far as I know, they only come out at dusk so you likely won't even see them during the day, at least I haven't. Most people probably see them and think they're birds. Besides, doesn't every city have bats?

Bottom line, bats are a non-issue.

As for the heat... well... Texas is hot. We deal with it. But schools aren't typically in session during the hottest summer months, so I doubt they would keep kids indoors unless it was some fluky thing in May or September, or at least not that I've ever experienced. I'm not sure what you're asking.

If you want a reason to stay away from Austin, traffic and liberals are far more relevant to the discussion than bats and heat.

 

[jrbfishn]

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum. We'd like to get to know you before we make too much fun of you. There is an introductions thread where you can introduce yourself.

 

[stemoo01]

Bats are rare to see unless you seek them out.

It's hot, wear shorts

 

[Hoji]

Hot? Pffft! I look forward to the 105F temperature when I get home. For me it is a cooling trend.

 

[Neo Sharkey 117]

Bats are not a big problem and neither is the heat. Where are you moving from?

Moving from San Diego, CA.

 

[Davetex]

Don't give the bats a second thought, you need to be worrying about all the cobras we have running loose around here all the time.
Cobras love the heat!!!! The hotter it gets, the more cobras we get.

This damned thing was in my backyard last week..........

 

[Se7en62]

The bats are ALL infected with rabies, they fly all over the city all the time. I see them in my neighborhood as far North as Hutto every evening. They are a public nuisance and their lair is beneath the bridge. Tourists like to gum up the internet with "what nice bats" but they're a plague: 1,500,000 Mexican Freetail Bats does not equate to a pleasant experience for anyone. They WILL get stuck in your wife's hair.

The heat is horrendous. It's unrelenting. It flooded and the rivers swept most of the small towns away in May and now it's over 105 nearly every day. You walk in a constant pant, just like dog, but with sweat dripped from every orifice of your body. It's turned to steam inside of your pants by the friction of your own thighs, so you'll ALWAYS have swamp ass and gout. It just never quits. Yeah, sure we all have A/C in our cars, but by the time you get where you're going your A/C has just begun to cool you down and bring you back from the cusp of another heat stroke.

Speaking of heat strokes, no one knows how to drive. Austin has THE longest commute times of any city in America. Half is due to a failing infrastructure. The other half is due to immigrants from other states assuming there are plentiful jobs here and coming here and not understanding that A) Yes you can turn right on a red, B) A Texas Courtesy Pass is not a drunk driving tactic of driving on shoulders for fun, and C) Blinkers are not optional.

Your children WILL grow up outcasts, because locals will never accept the city for what it has become or what it's becoming. Austin was never meant to have a population of more than 400,000, yet today the metroplex is crammed full of over 2,000,000 people all lying to themselves that Austin is still just as cool as it was 10 years ago. It's not. It's horrible.

If the listeria from the local ice cream doesn't kill you, you still run the risk of catching rabies from the bats. Then when you think you've got it made and reach for a gun to kill that annoying Mockingbird on your window sill, an absolute hoard of willy-nilly democrats from Ohio and California will descend upon your domicile with the tact of a hand grenade, screaming that you're a gun-totting southern racists, even though you just moved here. You'll be in fear of your neighbors, local public policy, your daily commute, the huge hornets nest that was just built in your mailbox, the annoying bats in your palm tree, and your crazy-eyed right wing extremist neighbor who you'll swear is plotting your demise.

In the end, it's probably best if you just stay put.

 

[itchin]

You should probably stay in California.

 

[Davetex]

Oh, and I forgot to mention all the leprosy infected armadillos, rabid skunks and coyotes. Stefan, didn't they find a chupacabra in Hutto a while back?

 

[Se7en62]

They did indeed. It had been feeding on another one of those dead Hippo's that litter the creeks up here. Filthy critters.

On the plus side, Austin's rape rate is down to about 3 in every 4.

 

[pharmaco]

Moving from San Diego, CA.

There are bats literally everywhere.
You don't see them because they're small black animals flying against a black night sky.
Don't move here.

Furthermore, ask anyone about the violent drug addicts that frequent the corner of 7th street and Nechez.

 

[Hoji]

deleted. Photo did not load and without it there is no context to snarky comment.

 

[Davetex]

The monocled cobra is native to Central Texas. It prefers heat, but the snake can be found in grassy places and tree holes. In urban areas, the snakes prefer hiding under the houses and cars of new arrivals and other covered places during the day.


Its neurotoxic venom makes this cobra so deadly that a bite can kill an adult human within an hour if a vein is hit. The venom affects the central nervous system, leading to respiratory failure or heart failure.

 

[Brojon]

Guys - he may be from California, but he DID reach out on a gun board. Hopefully he's salvageable.
The defining question is who did he vote for for president.
Then again - maybe better not chance it...

 

[Glockster69]

My wife is afraid of bats, and saw a bit on the net about the Congress Avenue Bridge Bats.

Did she also look up attack stats on humans by Mexican free-tails?

. . . that bat-watchers have nothing to fear if they don't try to handle bats; and that on the nightly flights out from under the bridge, the Austin bats eat from 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of insects, including agricultural pests. . .

http://www.batcon.org/index.php/our-work/regions/usa-canada/protect-mega-populations/cab-intro


I'm happy to see bats around here.

 

[pharmaco]

Guys - he may be from California, but he DID reach out on a gun board. Hopefully he's salvageable.
The defining question is who did he vote for for president.Then again - maybe better not chance it...

"Yeah, I'm from California and I like guns! I'm pro gun!"

Said every Californian that voted for garbage horrible politicians ever.