Rafinesque's big-eared bat

Rafinesque's big-eared bats are quiet, slow, highly manoeuvrable fliers that pick insects off leaves as well as catching them in the air. Their long ears let them hear the tiny sounds of prey moving on vegetation.

They roost in large hollow trees such as tupelo and cypress, and in human structures that imitate them: abandoned houses, cisterns, wells, bridges and culverts. They hang in the open, often from the ceiling, in small groups. In winter they become torpid but wake readily and move between roosts.

This bat is a marker of old, wet forest. Where there are still hollow tupelos and cypresses big enough for a colony, it tends to survive; where the old trees have been cut, it depends on the chance of an abandoned building nearby.

It is rare across its range and considered a species of conservation concern in Georgia and neighbouring states, which makes every known roost worth protecting.

Mating — autumn and winter
Birth — late April to early June, a single pup
Nursing — about two months
Flight — at about three weeks old
Independence — by mid-summer
Lifespan — up to about 10 years has been recorded

• An abandoned house, barn or cistern in swamp country may hold a colony; entering it disturbs mothers and pups.
• Bridge and culvert work in summer can harm roosting colonies.
• Protecting large hollow trees in bottomland forests keeps their natural roosts.
• Never handle a bat with bare hands; bats are rabies vector species.

• Old empty buildings are just eyesores. For this rare bat an abandoned house can be the only roost for miles.
• A bat with huge ears is dangerous. The ears are for hearing insects; the bat is shy and gentle.
• Bats want to fly at people. A bat that flies close in a building is trying to find its way out.

• Big brown bat
• Southeastern myotis
• Evening bat