Everything You Wanted To Know About Bats

 

 

Two out of Eight species of bats found throughout Maine are - the Big Brown Bat and the Little Brown Bat. They have slightly different life-cycles and characteristics and as such are handled differently by wildlife removal experts. The following are some more bat facts for Maine homeowners:

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Habitat

Urban: In urban environments bats are found in semi-open areas often near trees and water but will make their roots inside building spaces.

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 Breeding 

Time of year: Bats mate in the fall and sometimes into the winter months. Sperm is stored and ovulation and fertilization are delayed until the female emerges from hibernation.

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Litter size

Big Brown Bats have one to two offspring every year while the Little Brown Bat has only one.

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Rearing

Little Brown Bats will stay in the roost for the first 18 days of their life and can fly thereafter. They reach maturity within 3 weeks. Big Brown Bats take longer to mature and do not reach adult size until 70 days.

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Sexual maturity

Female bats are sexually mature near the end of their first year. Male bats take slightly longer and will reach sexual maturity after their first year.

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Food and Feeding

Time of day: Bats are nocturnal and use high frequency echo-location to seek out their food.

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Diet

Big Brown Bats eat a variety of insects but prefer beetles. Little Brown Bats enjoy flying insects like midges, mosquitoes and mayflies.

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Morphology and Lifestyle

• Wing span: Big Brown Bats - 32 to 39cm; Little Brown Bats - 22 to 27cm.

• Weight: Big Brown Bats - 11 to 25g; Little Brown Bats - 5 to 11g.

• Vocalization: Bats use high frequency echo-location that is hard to hear with the exception of some clicking sounds.

• Lifespan: Between 10 and 20 years with the rare bat living as long as 30 years.

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Did You Know?

• Bats play an important role in our environment as they can consume up to 3,000 insects in one night.

• Bats in Canada will not fly in your hair and suck your blood.

• Bats can spread the rabies virus when infected with very little to no evidence of contact.

• Bats can squeeze through a hole the size of a dime.

• A bat can produce several times its own weight in waste each month.

• Bat colonies can range in size from one to several hundred and can double in size every year.

• Bats hibernate when the temperature drops below 10 degrees C.