Little Brown Bat
Myotis lucifugusAlso known as Little Brown Myotis
Little brown bats are highly social nocturnal mammals that roost in tight colonies within warm attics, tree cavities, and caves. Emerging at dusk, they use sophisticated echolocation to hunt thousands of mosquitoes, midges, and moths over water bodies each night. During winter, they migrate to humid caves and abandoned mines to hibernate, where they currently face devastating population declines from white-nose syndrome.
- diet
- Insects including mosquitoes, midges, moths, beetles, and flies
- family
- Vespertilionidae
- threats
- White-nose syndrome, habitat loss, wind turbines, and pesticide exposure
- life Span
- 6 to 10 years in the wild, though some survive over 30 years
EN
Can carry rabies and may bite if handled; observe from a safe distance and never touch.
Can transmit rabies through bites or scratches, and their guano can harbor histoplasmosis spores.
Never touch a bat with bare hands; contact animal control if one is found grounded or indoors.Severely threatened by white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that disrupts hibernation and causes high mortality.
Avoid entering hibernation caves during winter to prevent spreading the fungus and waking the bats.- Watch at Dusk: Stand near calm water bodies or forest edges at sunset to watch them forage.
- Exclude Humanely: Use one-way exit devices to safely remove bats from attics during late summer.
- Install Bat Houses: Provide alternative roosting sites by mounting dark-colored bat boxes on sunny walls.