This story is part of Big Wonder–our series that explores uniquely larger-than-life stories in Texas.

This isn’t any normal bridge. Locals and visitors alike congregate at Austin’s Congress Avenue Bridge in the evenings to watch the city’s unofficial mascots bursting into the air: bats. An estimated 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats find lodging here each year between March and October, consuming up to 30,000 pounds of insects per night. As useful as these critters are, there’s also something to be said about the fact that they sure do know how to put on a show.