365 Urban Species. #114: Big Brown Bat

[urbpan]

Urban Species #114 Big brown bat Eptesicus fuscus

The most urban of all North American bats, the big brown bat roosts almost exclusively in man-made structures. A few colonies have been found in hollow trees or caves, but for the most part, these animals prefer attics, barns, and belfries. As they are among the most cold-tolerant of bats, they will roost in more open places, such as under bridges and in chimneys. They are the first bats seen awake in late winter, and the most commonly seen bats in our area. They feed on insects over still water and open areas, and are also frequently observed taking advantage of the bug-attracting properties of streetlights.

Perhaps the most famous urban bats are those that make up the colony of Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiensis) in Austin. Someday I dearly wish to see the spectacle of more than a million bats (the largest urban colony in the world) stream out from underneath the Congress Avenue bridge.

Comments

[bunrab.livejournal.com]

Their teeth really aren't that scary; leather or heavy cotton gardening gloves are sufficient to handle them. And they really aren't that all interested in biting humans anyway, as we in no way resemble their food. When I worked for the TX Dept of Insurance bats from the bat bridge (the one he mentions in the post) used to get into the building all the time and people would call me to remove them, and I never got bitten. I had my gentle bat-removal technique down to a fine art. All the 6-foot-plus guys would cower in the halls, terrified, while I'd stand on a chair and gently whisk the bat or bats into a wastebasket and then carry them over to an office with a balcony and shoo them off the balcony. Sheeeeee.

And their little faces were so cute!