A stop on the Waco Sculpture Zoo trail
9The Night Shift
“Bats Taking Flight” by Bryant J. Stanton of Waco · aluminum & reflective paint · given by Cindy and Mike Gustin · Waco Sculpture Zoo, a Creative Waco & City of Waco project, dedicated 2020
Somebody has to fly the trail after dark. They volunteered.
When all the animals set out for the zoo, somebody asked: 'But who will watch the road at night?' Every wing in the bat colony went up at once. Now they burst from this spot at dusk, on duty till dawn, so no traveler on the trail ever walks alone in the dark. Texas has more bats than any state in America, and Waco's are the proudest of the job. Daytime visitors catch them frozen mid-launch — the night shift, clocking in.