A habitat is where an animal lives. Bats are found all over Earth, except where it is really cold or really hot. In nature, bats spend the day sleeping in caves or in tree tops. Some tiny South American bats make tent-like shelters out of palm tree leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around people, bats may make their homes in barns, under bridges, and in bat houses that people make. Ms. Tammy’s sister has bats that live in the attic of her house, and they sometimes go into her bedroom. (She lets them out through the window.) The place where a bat sleeps is called a “roost.” Bats hang upside down from their roosts when they sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although some bats roost in groups of only one or two, for the most part bats are very social animals and like to be around each other. Some roosts may be home to thousands of bats. The largest natural bat colony in the world is in the Bracken Cave in Texas. During the summer, this cave is home to as many as 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats. That’s a LOT of bats! This video is taken at the Bracken Cave in San Antonio, Texas. Several questions about bats are answered in the video.

The largest urban (in a city) bat colony is under the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas.  The bridge is home to about 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats.  To put that in perspective, Austin is home to only a little over 1.5 million people — there are nearly as many bats living under the bridge as there people living in the entire city! Take a look at the bats that roost beneath the Congress Avenue Bridge. Tourists are in a boat watching this amazing event. video

The little brown bat that lives in Eugene typically has three roosts, like many other bats.

• Day roost – where the bat sleeps.
• Night roost – where the bat rests after eating. It is near the day roost.
• Hibernation roost – where the bat sleeps for a long time during cold weather.

Learn more about bats’ habitats from this video.

1: Introduction | 2: Wings | 3. Diet | 4. Habitat | 5. Babies | 6. Senses | 7. More About Bats