NEW! Be a Bat Counter this summer - click here to learn how!
Northern long-eared bats. Photo by Susi von Oettingen/USFWS |
New Hampshire is home to 8 species of bats. The first 6 in this list are "of conservation concern." Click name for a species profile from the NH Wildlife Action Plan or other information about the species.
See our other bat pages:
For general information about New Hampshire's bats, click here to download Batting 4,000 (PDF, 928 KB) by bat researcher Dr. Scott Reynolds, from the Sept./Oct. 2007 issue of N.H. Wildlife Journal magazine. This article is a natural history of NH bats written before the emergence of white-nose syndrome.
Bats in Need of Conservation
Conservation of these species includes protecting summer maternity colonies and winter hibernation sites and protecting bats as they migrate between them.
Summer breeding
Eastern red bats and silver-haired bats roost in taller, more mature trees, while Northern long-eared bats need older forests surrounding them. One strategy listed in the Wildlife Action Plan to protect these and other species is increasing the amount of late successional or old-growth forests. Since all the tree-roosting species, including the tricolored bat and hoary bat, seem to return to the same roosts summer after summer, the loss and fragmentation of the forests can severely diminish their populations by removing the all-important maternity roosts. None of these bats produces many young per year – most have only one or two but not all make it to maturity.
Eastern small-footed bats spend the summer in rock crevices, in rocky outcrops. Some human-made structures like dams and riprap slopes can provide habitat, but measures must be taken to avoid harming the bats during routine maintenance of those structures.
Little brown bats and big brown bats prefer buildings – barns, attics and other outbuildings- for their maternity colonies. The ability to crowd more bats in and the higher temperatures of these buildings allows for a more rapid growth of the pups. Bat houses can substitute for buildings, but must be large enough and put up properly. Click here for more information on bat houses on our homeowners page.
If you have a summer colony in your barn or attic and want to participate in our statewide summer bat survey, click here.
Winter hibernacula
Bats, including this tricolored bat, are often covered in condensation while hibernating. Photo by Susi von Oettingen/USFWS |
Tricolored bats, Northern myotis, little brown bats and state-endangered Eastern small-footed bats hibernate in caves or mines. They are highly vulnerable during winter, surviving only on the fat they have stored in their bodies. Spelunkers – people who explore caves – may not even see the bats, but can easily disturb them with lights and noise. Even casual visitors to caves in the winter have a big impact, because the disturbance causes bats to arouse from hibernation, using up precious stored energy.
The biggest threat to hibernating bats is white-nose syndrome. This new disease, first discovered in NH in 2007, has spread far and wide since then. Click here for more information about white-nose syndrome.
Big brown bats hibernate in caves, mines or buildings. The bats in buildings may be protected from white-nose syndrome, but those in caves and mines do get the disease.
Migration
The three migrating bats – Eastern red bats, hoary bats and silver-haired bats – are exposed to many obstacles during their migration. A new and emerging threat is the rotating blades of wind turbines on top of ridges, since bats and other migrating species follow rising air above ridgelines for flying ease.
For more information on bats in New Hampshire, contact the Wildlife Division at wildlife@wildlife.nh.gov.
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