What kind of bats are these?

[MoonshineR DavE]

On a caving trip in West Virginia some time back I took a pic of these bats and was wondering if anyone could tell me what kind they are.

[Komebeaux]

I will go out on a limb and say they are probably Little Browns. They sort of look like big browns because of the elongated bodies, but without a sense of scale, I don't know. I also am not sure if Big Browns cluster together like that, however.

[MoonshineR DavE]

If I remember right they were around 3"- 4" in length, but like I say "if I remember right". I have done alot of caving in the area and have never seen these in other caves so I didn't know if it is of any significance that they are there.

[Komebeaux]

3 to 4 inches in length tells me they are probably Big Browns.

[adleedy]

i was along on that trip, and if i remember right we also thought they where big browns but we didnt think they clustered like that. i guess they do though

[tropicalbats]

Big browns do cluster at some sites. I've seen up to 30 in a large, circular bunch. Many more in horizontal clusters a couple of bats wide. While the picture is not clear enough to say for sure, based on what can be noted they seem to be big browns.

Keith

[Amocholes]

Cute little critters!

[incavenow]

I've wondered what those were also..Did they have a cream colored belly? I saw some bats clustered like that in the coldest part of Johnson's Crook Cave in the winter and they were definitely NOT hibernating. They were very aware of us and obviously did not enjoy our presence. The ones I saw were Charcoal colored, cream bellys and as large as my hand.

[MoonshineR DavE]

As far as i know these did not have cream bellies, but then again i didnt bother to roll one over and lool.

[Komebeaux]

Big Browns.

[John Chenger]

big browns, sorry.

BB have distinctive large dog-like snouts...these do not. They are probably little browns or much less likely Indiana bats.


Here's a big brown for a snout comparison:

http://www.batmanagement.com/Batcentral/batspecs.html