| Hoary
bats are one of America's largest and most handsome bats. With their
long, dense, white-tipped fur, they have a frosted, or hoary, appearance.
Humans rarely get the chance to see these magnificent bats; they are
not attracted to houses or other human structures, and they stay well-hidden
in foliage throughout the day. They typically roost 10-15 feet up
in trees along forest borders. In the summer, hoary bats don't emerge
to feed until after dark, but during migration, they may be seen soon
after sundown. They sometimes make round trips of up to 24 miles on
the first foraging flight of the night, then make several shorter
trips, returning to the day roost about an hour before sunrise. Between
late summer and early fall, they start their long journey south, migrating
to subtropical and possibly even tropical areas to spend the winter.
Traveling in waves, they are often found in the company of birds,
who also migrate in groups. For the rest of the year, however, hoary
bats remain solitary. They are among the most widespread of all bats,
found throughout most of Canada and the United States and south into
Central and South America. The hoary bat is Hawaii's only native land
mammal. Stray individuals have been found from Iceland to Orkney Island
as well as in Bermuda and the Dominican Republic. |
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