About the Evening Bat

Bats are creatures that are often feared by many people because of the diseases they carry, the potential for them to bite humans, and the damage they can cause in homes. There are definitely good reasons for removing them as quickly as possible from your home, but it helps to understand these creatures better. The evening bat is one of these bats that are frequently seen throughout the United States. Continue reading this article to learn more about evening bats.

Appearance

Evening bats have dark brown fur with a gray/brown color closer to the tips of the fur. They have black wings, ears, and feet. They have a broad nose that makes them look much like the big brown bat. They are easily distinguishable from big brown bats because they are quite a bit smaller.

Habitat

The evening bat can be found in forests in many places in the United States. They use old buildings and hollow trees to roost in. It is rare that evening bats are seen in caves, as they prefer to live in forested areas. They can be found from the East Coast of the US, all the way to Nebraska and from the Great Lakes, down into Northern Mexico.

Evening Bat

Diet

The evening bat eats many of the same foods that other bat species eat. They use echolocation to catch their prey in midair and feed on insects such as beetles, flies, leafhoppers, and moths. They often hunt at the edges of forests, where their flight is less likely to be impeded by trees.

Lifespan

Evening bats can usually live in the wild for an average of around two years, though depending on environmental factors they can live longer. The longest recorded lifespan for an evening bat was five years. These environmental factors vary from state to state and even forest to forest.

Size

The size of the evening bat is often what separates it from other bats. These little guys usually only have a length of around four inches. Their wingspan makes them appear to be much larger, at close to 11 inches on average. Even most adult evening bats weigh less than half of an ounce, making them incredibly lightweight.

Evening Bat

Predators

As with most species of bats, evening bats have quite a few predators in nature to deal with. The animals that most commonly kill evening bats are raccoons, owls, hawks, and snakes. These animals can sometimes get into a roost, killing many of the young bats, and possibly some older ones as well.

Reproductive Characteristics

Evening bats are promiscuous animals, as a male evening bat often mates with up to 20 different female bats. Females will eventually form colonies with other females and rear their young in these colonies. Mating usually occurs in the early fall, and then in the spring, the female evening bats usually give birth to two pups. These little pups are entirely helpless until they are about three weeks old. The male pups leave at around six weeks old and the female pups stay in the colony.

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