Southeastern Myotis

Similar Species:
Little Brown Myotis has longer silky fur with burnished tips. Keen’s Myotis has longer ears and longer, thinner tragus Indian Myotis has keeled calcar. Easter Small-footed and Eastern Small –footed myotises have smaller foot and keeled calcar.

Breeding:
Nursery colonies begin forming in March in caves where water is plentiful. 2 young are born late April to mid-May.

Habitat:
Wooded and open areas. In North, roosts in caves; in South, in buildings or hallow trees, also in caves in Florida.

Range:
Southeaster U.S.: w. Kentucky; Arkansas and Louisiana east to Georgia and n Florida; isolated populations in s Illinois and s Indiana

In recent years, Florida caves have had some of the larges colonies of the Southeaster Myotis, with up to 90,000 bats packed 150 per square foot (1,600 per square meter). This is the only North American myotis that produces more than one young. In winter, most of these bats leave the maternity caves to seek shelter in other protected places such as culverts, bridge beams, and buildings, where they gather in small number. Contrary to popular opinion, mosquitoes, although the spies often does so in Florida, where mosquitoes are abundant. Predators include corn snakes and rat snakes.