Bat City USA

Gr 7 Up—When millions of Mexican free-tail bats colonized the underside of a bridge in Austin, Texas, in the early 1980s, the initial reaction from residents was to evict the "invaders" by using everything from loud noise to cyanide gas. Scientist and "bat man" Merlin Tuttle moved to Austin and helped publicize the bats' positive traits—particularly their willingness to gobble up tons of mosquitoes and crop pests every night. Bat City USA mixes funky views of Austin and the bat-costumed individuals and tourists who watch for the bats emerge at dusk; the natural bat caves in the Texas Hill Country; and interviews with Tuttle and other bat conservationists, bridge engineers, and Austinites. Tuttle realized he must make bats endearing if city folk were to accept them, and the film shows him taking the brilliant photographs (which ran everywhere from popular magazines to postage stamps) that helped move the bats "from eek to chic." His detailed, independent study of bats, undertaken while he was still a teen, will inspire budding scientists. Photos and older interview footage is inserted to good effect. (National Geographic-type background nudity is briefly shown in a photo of a scientific expedition.) This is an obvious choice for science classes studying mammals, bats, conservation, or species interdependence, and for marketing classes as well. Thanks largely to Tuttle, Austin has come to love the tiny residents, and has retrofitted bridges to attract more of them.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX