Gray Bat
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| Gray Bat | ||||||||||||||
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 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo
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| Myotis grisescens (A. H. Howell, 1909) |
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 Approximate range of the gray bat
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The Gray Bat (Myotis grisescens) is a small bat that lives in caves throughout the southern United States. It usually chooses caves which are located within one mile of a river or reservoir.
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[edit] Description
The gray bat typically weighs 8-13 g. Its diet consists predominantly of insects. All species of the genus Myotis, including the gray bat, rest by day and forage at night. They often hunt and feed over water. The feeding flight usually alternate with periods of rest, during which the bats hang to digest their catch. Colonies of the gray bat travel up to 14 km from roosts to foraging areas. The gray bat has a wingspan of about 11-12 inches and is uniformly dark gray. The grey bat is aptly named due to its pigmentation.
[edit] Habitat
Gray bats use warm caves in the summer where they establish maternal and bachelor colonies. Few have been found present outside caves. In the winter they hibernate in a few cold caves.
[edit] Range
The range of the endangered gray bat is concentrated in the cave regions of Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, with occasional colonies and individuals found in adjacent states. The species' present total population is estimated to number over 1,500,000; however, a study in 1982 estimated that about 95 percent of the bats hibernate in only nine caves in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. Another study published in 1991 indicated the number of important caves to be eight: two in Tennessee; three in Missouri; and one each in Kentucky, Alabama, and Arkansas. The gray bat's range overlaps with that of the Indiana bat, also endangered.
[edit] Endangered status
Although gray bat numbers are still relatively high, their total population has decreased significantly during recent years. The gray bat is thought to have declined mainly due to destruction by vandals and disturbance by spelunkers and tourists. The reliance of the species on relatively few hibernacula is also a major reason behind its endangered status.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the gray bat as an endangered species on April 28, 1976.
[edit] References
- Chiroptera Specialist Group (1996). Myotis grisescens. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Endangered (EN A1c v2.3)
