What comes to your mind when you think about bats? Maybe vampires or other blood sucking creatures. Truth to be told, out of many species of bats around the world, only three of them drink blood to survive. Two of these species drink bird blood and the other don’t prefer human blood so nothing to worry about, right?

Species going extinct is not news anymore since it happens more frequently now. So here is one more species that is very close to extinction if nothing is done stop it. The mammal species which is in danger currently is called Tri-Colored Bat. These little furry mammals are the smallest bats in Ohio, while in flight they can be mistaken for a big moth. Their color can be yellowish-brown to dark reddish-brown and their ears are longer.

The baby bats which are referred as pups are born in May and June. To get pregnant, female of these bat species goes through a process called delayed fertilization. During fall season, a cluster of bats gather for accessing a cave before hibernation. While mating, sperm gets transferred to female bats in fall, but ovulation and fertilization happens when they wake up from hibernation in next spring. After they wake up, it takes six to nine weeks for pups to be born. It is rare, but these specific bats species usually have 4-5 pups.

Going back to the point about these species being close to extinction. In 2006, the bats in New York State cave were affected due to the fungus called Pseudogymnoascus destructans. This fungus is native to Europe but this disease spread quite rapidly which wiped out 95% of their colony. Bats are very important for our ecosystem in forest areas all over the world. They harvest millions of insects which saves billions of dollars in pest control in North America. Kim Baker, a ranger and her guide with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been keeping an eye on this bat species and have been protecting them for years now. So far, their population have been constant so let’s hope for the best.

Photos by Jim McCormac – http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/2014/07/tricolored-bat.html.%20Accessed%2023%20June%202018

“Tri-Colored Bat”. Wildlife.Ohiodnr.Gov, 2018, http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/species-and-

habitats/species-guide-index/mammals/tri-colored-bat. Accessed 22 June 2018.

“Tricolored Bats!”. Jimmccormac.Blogspot.Com, 2018,

http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/2014/07/tricolored-bat.html. Accessed 23 June 2018.

“All About Bats!”. Ohiohistory.Org, 2018, https://www.ohiohistory.org/learn/collections/natural-history/natural-history-blog/2015/october-2015/all-about-bats. Accessed 23 June 2018.