Bat Behavior & Habitats

Learning All About Bats Can Help Humans Understand Their Behavior

Bats are some of the most unique flying animals.

Known for making their homes in caves and structures, it’s no surprise that the Northeast United States is home to more than 10 different species of bats. Unfortunately, they don’t always stay in caves, so understanding bat behavior and habits can better help humans limit potential unwanted invaders and also follow some fairly strict laws protecting the animal.

Bat Hibernation & Life Cycle

Bats found in the Northeast U.S. either hibernate or migrate during the winter months. Though some species of bats prefer to roost alone, Northeastern bat species are colonial roosters, having multiple bats within the roosting location.

The big brown bat and the little brown bat, two of the Northeast’s most common bat species, hibernate and therefore make their roosts in caves, mines, or in enclosed structures such as your barn or attic. They are also very likely to roost in man-made bat houses.

Bats also roost during their maternity season. The mating season occurs in the fall, where the male sperm is deposited into the female. The female bat will hold the male’s sperm until after hibernation. When spring comes, the egg is fertilized and the gestation period begin, generally lasting 40 to 60 days.

Females will begin looking for a space to roost in early-to-mid-spring where they will give birth, usually to one pup, and will stay until the pup is old enough to be on its own.

Once a bat is considered full grown (between 3 and 4 weeks old), they are able to leave the roost to forage if they desire. Female bats are able to mate within the first season after their birth; however, males wait until the second.

The average life expectancy of a bat is four to 10 years, with some bats far surpassing that.

What Bats Eat 

Most bats in the Northeast are insectivores, which means that their diets consist primarily of insects. The big brown bat tends to feed on larger insects such as moths, beetles, flies, and wasps, as well as mosquitoes. The little brown bat has a diet consisting of smaller insects such as mayflies, midges, gnats, and mosquitoes.

A bat’s mouth houses small, sharp teeth that allow for them to quickly and easily chew their prey. A little brown bat, for instance, can consume up to 600 insects an hour, typically feeding anywhere from one to five hours. That’s a lot of bugs!

Bats feed at night, using echolocation. A technique similar to sonar, echolocation allows the bats to locate their prey by making a virtual map through the bounce back (echoes) of the sounds they are releasing. This helps them to not only find their prey, but also to avoid objects that may be in their way. Most sounds they make are high pitched and undetectable to the human ear.

A large misconceptions surrounding bats and their use of echolocation is the idea that they are blind. This is far from true. In fact, bats’ vision  is similar to that of a human.

Bat Removal

Bats are a protected species in many countries, including the United States, as they provide numerous benefits to the ecosystem.

They are both pollinators of numerous crops and a natural form of pest control. Therefore, there are laws surrounding the handling and removing of bats. It is illegal to remove a bat from where it has made its home during maternity season as well as during their period of hibernation.

Bat removal should only happen legally in early spring (during the month of May) before the pup is born or in late summer (August through mid-October), which would be after they pups have matured, but before the hibernation period.

If you find a bat in your home, never try to remove it by yourself, as that may be dangerous for both you and the bat. Instead, call a pest control or wildlife service to come and access the situation for you.

Bat exclusion can be guaranteed by our team with our proprietary Cat-Guard Exclusion Systems that use a bat excluder — a one-way door allowing bats to fly out, but not allowing them to  re-enter your home.

It’s a win-win for the safety of both you and the bat.