Freeze impact to Temple bat colony believed minimal
The winter storm that iced Central Texas last week — shutting off power and phone service, downing trees and power lines, and damaging several Temp...
The winter storm that iced Central Texas last week — shutting off power and phone service, downing trees and power lines, and damaging several Temple apartment units — seems to have spared a local bat population still reeling from the 2021 winter storm.'We've had a few rescue calls but nothing like in 2021,' said Addison McCool, executive director of the Weatherford-based Bat World Sanctuary. 'We believe the bats fared well in and around Temple.'Two years ago, a deep freeze accompanied by ice and snow killed an estimated 100,000 Mexican free-tailed bats and devastated the colony that makes its home under the Loop 363 bridge over Interstate 35 near the Cracker Barrel restaurant.