For a list of bat facts see Fun Bat Facts.
- The United States is home to at least 45 species of bats.
- Bats can carry rabies, but several studies have found that less then 1 and 300 bats carry rabies. Your odds of getting bitten by a rabid bat is less then one half of one percent.
- Colorado has 17 species of bats & the Big Brown Bat is the most prevalent.
- The largest colony of bats in Colorado is in San Louis Valley at the Orient Mine consisting of 250,000 Mexican free-tailed bats and they eat over 2000lbs of insects/night.
- In Tucson, AZ almost every major bridge has a colony of bats living under it.
- The Millie Mine Bat Cave in Iron Mountain, MI is home to seven species of bats and the largest known hibernating/breeding colony of bats (up to 1 million bats) in North America.
- Townsend’s big-eared bats are resident to the Bear Gulch Cave in Pinnacles National Monument, CA. Of the 23 species of bats known to be in CA, fourteen species have been identified living in Pinnacles National Park.
- Carlsbad Caverns located in Carlsbad, NM is home to at least 17 species of bats. A summertime resident colony of bats in excel of 400,000 Brazilian free-tailed live in the caverns. During the spring & fall migration periods the bat numbers in the cavern were over 793,000 in 2005.
- Selman’s Cave in northwest Oklahoma has a population of Mexican free-tailed bats over one million. In late July and August before the bats migrate back to Mexico the colony swells to over two million.
- Devil’s Den State Park located in the northwest part of Arkansas has numerous caves with hibernating bats. Arkansas is known to have 16 species of bats in the state.
- Wyandotte Cave west of Louisville, KY has nine known species of hibernating bats during the winter months.
- Hartman Mine in Pennsylvania was once home to a colony of bats over 35,000, but due to the devastating White-Nose Syndrome this colony of bats was reduced to an estimated 155 in 2012.
- Nickajack Cave outside of Chattanooga, TN has a summer Gray Bat population of over 100,000.
- Sauta Cave in Scottsboro, Alabama has a Gray Bat population of over 300,000.
- University of Florida located in Gainesville, FL built a Bat Barn in 2010 which is now home to a colony of bat in excess of 300,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats.
- Clarity Tunnel just east of Plainview, TX in Caprock Canyons State Park is an Abandoned railroad tunnel located along the trail-way of Caprock Canyon State Park. Home for more than 300,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats.
- Ekert James River Bat Cave Preserve just south west of Mason, TX is a maternity colony of bats of 4 – 6 million Mexican free-tailed bats.
- Devil’s Sinkhole located in Devil’s Sinkhole State Natural Area near Rocksprings, TX is inhabited by 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats.
- Stuart Bat Cave located in Kickapoo Cavern State Park, north east of Del Rio, TX, is a maternity site for about a million Mexican free-tailed bats.
- Frio Bat Cave, privately owned, is home to a colony of bats consisting of up to 10 million Mexican free-tailed bats.
- Old Tunnel WMA just south of Grapetown, TX is an abandoned railroad tunnel with up to 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats.
- Bamberger Ranch Preserve “Chiroptorium” is Man-made bat cave located on the Bamberberger Ranch Preserve south east of Johnson City, TX. A colony of bats exceeding 400,000 Mexican free-tailed bats call this home.
- Bracken Bat Cave is just north east of San Antonio, TX and is home to more than 20,000,000 Mexican free-tailed bats. This is the largest known colony of bats in the world! It his estimated this cave has been housing bats for more than 10,000 years. This colony of bats eat and estimated 200 tons of insects nightly.
- The largest known urban colony of bats is in Austin, TX. More than one million Mexican Free-tail bats live under the Congress Bridge.
- Waugh Drive Bridge in Houston, TX has a summer colony of 250,000 Mexican free-tailed bats.
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