Bats are some of the most interesting animals at the Lava Beds, home to at least 15 different species. Park staff works year-round to monitor and protect the bats and their habitat, the lava tube caves.

Here the bats find just the right conditions to roost, raise their pups, and hibernate - but not all in the same cave! They actually use many different caves for all these purposes. Rangers constantly monitor which caves are in use, and close them if needed to protect newborn bats and their nervous mothers from disturbance.

A few rules to follow regarding bats:

• Please respect cave closures
• You find a single bat: Do not touch a bat or otherwise disturb it. Quietly leave the area.
• If you encounter several bats, quietly leave the area, and let a ranger know where you saw them. You may have found a new colony of Townsends Big-Eared Bats!

Support bat research and protection at the Lava Beds by adopting a bat!  More >>>

 

Learn more about bats at the Bat Conservation International website, BatCon.Org >>>

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The Bats of the Lava Beds

While some bats around the world eat fruit or drink nectar from flowers like a hummingbird, all the bats here are insect eaters. Bats are a big help to farmers because they eat many insects that can damage crops. Besides caves, some bats may roost in the cracks of rocky cliffs, in the loose bark or hollows of trees, and in some man-made structures. Here are a few of the 15 species you might see while visiting the Lava Beds:

Townsend's Big-Eared Bat

Rare and considered threatened with declining populations in most areas, this species is still doing well at the Lava Beds.  Because of this, the park works hard to protect them and keeps track of their population. They regularly use several caves in the Cave Loop area to raise their young. These caves have to be closed to all visitors becase the mother bats, very timid by nature, can be so scared by just one person walking past that she flies away and abandons her young, called a "pup." Since these bats gather together in maternal colonies of several dozen female bats and their flightless pups, one careless person can cause the death of that entire generation of bats.

Mexican Free-Tailed Bat

Named for the way their tail is longer than the membrane of skin between their feet, these bats migrate all the way to the jungles of Central America and the Amazon for the winter. They return to the Lava Beds by the tens of thousands and live remote caves in the park. They consume ton upon ton of insects over the marshes and fields of the Tulelake Basin and are a great benefit to local agriculture.

Hoary Bat

A bat that you will not find in a cave, these furry bats live in forests and roost in trees. They are found all over North America all the way into the cool forests of Canada, and are the only species of bat in Hawaii. They live generally solitary lives and are very hard to find.