Big Brown Bat

Similar Species:
Evening Bat is much smaller. Myotises usually are smaller, with 2 tiny premolar behind canine, and longer, thinner tragus.

Breeding:
Mates in fall, winter, or spring. 2 young born in maternity colony, usually in a building.

Sign:
Dirty markings on building exteriors at entry points; droppings on floor.

Habitat:
Variety of habitats, such as farmland, cities, parks, and forests. In summer, roosts n buildings and sometimes hollow trees; in winter, mainly in buildings, less frequently in caves, mines, storm sewers, and other protected places.

Range:
Throughout s Canada and U.S., except s. Florida and sc Texas.

In much of the northern U.S. and Canada, this is the bat most often seen in winter, and the only one usually found hibernation in buildings in urban area. Very common thought  much of their range, Big Brown Bate spread out over the available area individually or in small groups. Those that reside in buildings, usually one to five per structure, hang from rafter, hibernate in crakes or under objects, or burrow in isolation. Some individuals retreat to caves or mines. Where they hang where the entrance This species often emerges from the hibernaulum and flies outside, but- at least in northern parts of its range- it does not feed in winter; it depends for energy on fat reserves, which constitutes up to one-third of its body weight. A relatively fast flyer, at speed of 40 mph, the Big Brown Bat east mostly beetles but also take wasps, ants, plant hoppers, and leafhoppers. It rarely eats fillies or moths. Particularly important food in the Midwest are June bugs, green stinkbugs, and cucumber beetles; all are agricultural pets, especially latter, whose larva, the corn rootworm, probably inflicts more crop damage than any other agricultural pet in the country. All farms benefit from the presence of Big Brown Bats. Maternity colonies, numbering up to about 600 individuals, are usually located in buildings, but sometimes under a bridge or in a hollow tree. Pups often fall to the floor or the ground, but those that are able to climb partially up a wall or other structure are often retrieved by there mothers, who find them by their continual sharp squeaking notes.