The eastern red bat is medium-sized, and the sexes are contrastingly colored. Males are usually a bright rusty-red with a slight frosted effect, caused by the white tips of the guard hairs. Females usually are dull buff-chestnut with considerable white frosting. The eastern red bat is a non-hibernating, north to south migratory bat. They are solitary, and normally roost in trees and shrubs. The lasiurine bats, particularly the red bat, are the only bats known that normally have three or four young per litter.

Species Measurements:
Adult Total Length: 92-122 mm (3 5/8-4 7/8in.)
Tail: 38-63 mm (1 1/2-2 1/2 in.)
Hind Foot: 8.5-10 mm (3/8 in.)
Weight: 6-14 g (1/5-3/5 oz.)

Physical Characteristics:
Bats are unique among mammals because their forelimbs are specialized for true flight. Flight membranes, which are actually extensions of the skin of the back and belly, connect the body with the wings, legs, and tail. Unlike birds, bats use both legs and wings during flight. Other modifications for flight include greatly elongated fingers to provide support for the wing membrane, a keeled sternum for the attachment of the enlarged flight muscles, and fusion of some vertebrae. The membrane extending from the tail to the hind legs is known as the interfemoral membrane.

Both males and females have a yellowish-white patch on the front of each shoulder. The dorsal surface of the interfemoral membrane is thickly furred. The basal two-thirds of the ears are also densely furred. The ears are short, broad, and rounded, and when laid forward they reach slightly more than halfway from the angle of the mouth to the nostrils.

Habitat:
Eastern red bats are solitary, and normally roost in trees and shrubs. Roosting sites near water seem to be preferred.

Reproduction:
Eastern red bats usually mate in August and September, although the Park mammal collection contains two red bats in copulation that were taken on April 5. Females store sperm in their reproductive tracts during the winter, and ovulate in early spring. Following a gestation period of 80-90 days, one-five young are born in June.

The lasiurine bats, particularly the red bat, are the only bats known that normally have three or four young per litter. At birth the young weigh about 0.5 g each, and by 4 weeks of age they weigh nearly half of the mother's weight. Between 3-6 weeks of age they can fly, and are ready to be weaned between 4-6 weeks of age.

Terrestrial Ecology:
The senses of sight and hearing are well developed in bats. Since most bats become active near dusk, and are active much of the night, sight is of little importance in navigation and in the capture of prey. Instead, they use echolocation, a system somewhat similar to radar. They emit ultrasonic calls, far above the range of human hearing, that are reflected from objects ahead of them. They hear the echoes, and are able to avoid obstacles and find food in total darkness. Different species can be distinguished by differences in the structure of their echolocation calls (Fenton and Bell, 1981).

Feeding Behavior:
During feeding maneuvers, the tail and wing membranes are used to capture and restrain prey. Some insects are captured by the tail membrane, which forms a pouch-like compartment. The bat must bend its head forward in order to grasp the insect with its teeth and take it into its mouth. Sometimes the bat may use its mouth to capture an insect from its wing.

Eleven species of bats have been recorded in the Park, and all feed exclusively on insects. During the colder months when flying insects are unavailable, bats must either hibernate or migrate to warmer areas. Eight of the species found in the park are known to hibernate. Only three - the Eastern red bat, hoary bat, and the silver-haired bat - are migratory.

Bats are seen flying over the Park during every month of the year. However, when flying during the winter, they do not feed.

Predators and Defense:
No predators recorded from the park.

Parasites:
None recorded from the park.

Transmittable Diseases:
Bats are capable of transmitting two diseases to humans - rabies and histoplasmosis. Histoplasmosis is a disease caused by inhaling dust that contains contaminated spores. Tuttle (1988) stated: "Less than a half of 1 percent of bats contract rabies, a frequency no higher than that seen in many other animals. Like others, they die quickly, but unlike even dogs and cats, rabid bats seldom become aggressive." Bats do not attack when they get rabies; they just lie in one place. Although it is rare for humans to contract rabies from infected bats, persons handling them should be aware of this possibility.

The eastern red bat is found from northern Mexico and the eastern and central United States to southern Canada. Its range extends westward to southwestern New Mexico, eastern Colorado, western North Dakota, and southwestern Alberta, Canada.

The eastern red bat is a non-hibernating, north to south migratory bat. They have been recorded at elevations ranging from 1,530 feet to 4,800 feet.

References:

Barbour, R. W. and W. H. Davis. 1969. Bats of America. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.

Fenton, N.B. 1999a. Red Bat. Pages 105-106. In: D. E. Wilson, and S. Ruff (eds.). The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

Fenton, N.B., and G. P. Bell. 1981. Recognition of Insectivorous Bats by their Echolocation Calls. Journal of Mammalogy 62(2): 233-243.

Harvey, M. J., J. S. Altenbach, and T. L. Best. 1999. Bats of the United States. Little Rock: Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Linzey, D. W. 1995a. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Inc., Blacksburg, Virginia.

Linzey, D. W. 1995b. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park-1995 Update. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 111(1): 1-81.

Linzey, D. W. 1998. The Mammals of Virginia. The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Inc., Blacksburg, Virginia.

Shump, K. A., Jr. and A. V. Shump. 1982. Lasiurus borealis. Mammalian Species No. 183: 1-6. American Society of Mammalogists.

Tuttle, M.D. 1988. America's Neighborhood Bats. Austin: University of Texas Press.