Our second HLMN day trip of the year will occur Tuesday, April 20th. Everyone is invited to travel to the Old Tunnel 10 miles south of Fredericksburg to hear an experienced interpreter (Nyta) talk about bats and the Old Tunnel bat site. At dusk you can then watch a very large number of Mexican freetail bats emerge from the tunnel. There is no charge for Master Naturalists. Family members are welcome but will have to pay a fee. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING US AFTER READING THE INFORMATION BELOW, PLEASE EMAIL ME (pwyde@dishmail.net) as soon as possible.
Note that April 20th is also a day that the Great Outdoors at Inks Lake State Park takes place. However, we are usually done with our responsibilities there by noon.
Billy Hutson is working on a place to eat before going to the Old Tunnel. Any suggestions on a suitable place would be gratefully accepted. We need to eat fairly early since we need to be in the lower viewing area of the bat tunnel by about 6:30 p.m. to hear the interpreter tell us about the bats.
Directions to the Old Tunnel
- Take Hwy 281 south to Johnson City. Turn right onto Hwy 290 (at Johnson City) and head for Fredericksburg.
- A half a mile east of the Fredericksburg city limits look for a TXDOT highway sign stating "Old Tunnel Wildlife Area" and one that says San Antonio Road.
- Turn south on the Old San Antonio Road for 10.5 miles and the Wildlife Management Area will be on your left.
If you are leaving from Llano
- At Fredericksburg, turn east on Hwy 290.
- A half a mile east of Fredericksberg city limits look for TXDOT highway sign stating "Old Tunnel Wildlife Area" and one that says San Antonio Road.
- Turn south on the Old San Antonio Road for 10.5 miles and the Wildlife Management Area will be on your left.
If you have time, you may want to go to Fredericksburg via Route 16 and take a detour around the Willow City Loop. (Since it is a loop, it comes back out on Route 16.) It usually has spectacular wild flowers at this time of the year, and they are usually on hillsides and valleys, not flat terrain.
According to our resident bat expert, Mike Harris, there are six species of bat in the area. The two in the tunnel will be Mexican free-tail and cave Myotis. Then the Hoary Bat, Western Pipistrelle, Evening Bat and the Eastern Red Bat (you may see hanging high in a tree) may be around. I may not have gotten this right. There was no interpreter around when I talked to Mike.