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Experts say bats are sticking around Austin longer than they used to

Warmer temperatures in the area are keeping the bats here longer – and bringing them back sooner.

AUSTIN, Texas — Bat season is getting longer in Austin – and experts say a lot of it has to do with the weather.

Our partners at the Statesman reported that in the past three to five years, thousands of bats have been extending their stay in Austin – the largest urban bat colony in the world – through November and beyond because the area's average temperatures have gotten warmer.

Bats that are sick with rabies or other illnesses also stay behind instead of migrating.

RELATED: Meet the couple keeping Austin's beloved bats flying high

The extended bat vacation can be a good thing for Austinites since the bats eat pests – like the crickets that overran the city not too long ago.

"The biggest reason they're migrating is food supply, so if there continues to be warmer weather, there continues to be more insects for them to eat – so that will keep them around longer or bring them back sooner," Fran Hutchins, the director of Bracken Cave Preserve, told the Statesman.

The Statesman reported that cold weather triggers the bats' migration further south because they like temperatures in the 70s, 80s and 90s. So experts say when the mercury falls, Austin's winged tourists will leave town. But they may return sooner than in the past. According to the Statesman, bat season in Central Texas typically starts in March, but some bats have been recorded coming back to town in January and February.

WATCH: KVUE REWIND: Bats make Austin's Congress Ave. Bridge their home – August 1982

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