Eastern small-footed bat

Eastern small-footed bats are among the smallest bats in North America. By day they tuck themselves into narrow cracks in rock — cliffs, outcrops, the spaces between talus boulders — and sometimes under bridges or in building walls.

They hunt with slow, fluttering flight close to the ground and over streams. In winter they hibernate in caves and mines, often near the entrance in cold, dry spots, and are among the last bats to enter hibernation in autumn and the first to leave in spring.

They are rare throughout their range, and in Georgia are known only from the mountains of the north.

These bats are part of the life of mountain rock — a habitat most people think of as bare — and they show how important cliffs, outcrops and scree slopes are to wildlife.

Because they are so small and so hard to find, much of their biology is still poorly known, and every colony discovered adds to what scientists understand about them.

Mating — autumn, with fertilisation delayed until spring
Birth — June, a single pup
Flight — at about four weeks old
Independence — by midsummer
Lifespan — up to about 12 years has been recorded

• Rock climbers and hikers moving rocks in talus fields can disturb roosting bats; look before reaching into crevices.
• Stay out of caves and mines where bats hibernate in winter.
• Never handle a bat with bare hands; bats are rabies vector species.

• Bare rock slopes have no wildlife. Talus and outcrops hide some of our rarest bats.
• All bats roost in caves in summer. This one spends summer days in rock cracks outside.
• Tiny bats are babies. Adults weigh about as much as a coin.

• Little brown bat
• Tricolored bat
• Northern long-eared bat