Indiana bat

Indiana bats hibernate in large, tightly packed clusters on cave ceilings, choosing a small number of caves and mines with just the right cold, stable temperatures. Most of the species spends the winter in only a few places.

In summer females form maternity colonies under the loose bark of dead or dying trees, often in forest near streams, and move between several roost trees. They hunt among the trees and along forest edges.

In Georgia they are known from only a few sites in the northwest.

The Indiana bat was among the first animals listed as endangered in the United States, in 1967, because so much of its population depended on so few caves. What happened in those caves — disturbance, then white-nose syndrome — decided the fate of the whole species.

Protecting it has meant protecting caves and the forests around them, which benefits many other animals too.

Mating — autumn at hibernation caves; fertilisation delayed until spring
Birth — June and early July, a single pup
Flight — at about three to four weeks old
Independence — by late summer
Lifespan — up to about 14 years has been recorded

• Stay out of caves and mines where bats hibernate; waking a cluster costs every bat in it energy it cannot spare.
• Dead trees with peeling bark near streams are summer nurseries.
• Clean caving gear between sites to slow white-nose syndrome.
• Never handle a bat with bare hands; bats are rabies vector species.

• One cave does not matter. For this bat a single cave can hold a large share of the whole species.
• Bats in a cluster are sick. Clustering is how Indiana bats hibernate.
• Endangered animals are only found in remote places. Indiana bats raise their young in ordinary farm woodlots and stream corridors.

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