Mexican free-tailed bat
Photo courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Š 2002
Name and General Characteristics • The Mexican free-tailed bat is a medium sized bat. • Genus species- Tadarida brasiliensis • Their fur is reddish to dark brown or gray in color. • Their tails extend more than one third beyond the tail membranes; most other bats have tails that are completely enclosed within the tail membranes. • Their wings are long and narrow. • The Mexican free-tailed bat has not been domesticated for human use.
Energy Transfer Mexican free-tail bats consume enormous amounts of moths and other insects. About 250 tons every night!
Moth
Beetles
Mexican free-tail bat
Snake
Ants
Ecology • Range: Mexican free-tails are found in the western United States, south through Mexico, Central America and into northern South America. • Habitat: Mexican free-tails prefer to roost in caves, but will also choose attics, under bridges, or in abandoned buildings. They choose roosts near water. The water attracts the insects they eat, as well as allowing them the opportunity to drink. • Predators: Snakes, raccoons, house cats, owls, and other predators sometimes manage to gain access to the roosts. If a baby falls to the cave floor the mother will not come to its rescue giving predators a chance for a quick meal.
Photo courtesy of www.aaanimalcontrol.com
“Masters of the Jam” Evolution • Bats make calls to jam (block) rivals’ sonar. • This jam prevents their competitors from acquiring dinner.
• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/11/141106-bats-science-animals-echoloc Published in November 2014. • Sounds: http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/audio/56012036.WAV
Photograph by Joel Sartore with Cole Sartore. National Geographic Creative.
Bracken Cave in San Antonio
Copyright © Rolf Nussbaumer Nature Photography
Fun Facts •
The densest concentrations of free-tailed bats are found living in Bracken Cave near San Antonio, Texas. Their colonies can number over 20 million.
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Mexican fee-tailed bats are the "jets" of the bat world. They are very fast flyers flying at 45 mph.
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Use sound to see!! “Echolocation” (the process of bouncing sound waves off nearby objects to sense what's around them.)
Media •
The Waugh Bridge Bat Colony http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/batpage.html
Buffalo Bayou Bat Colony Pontoon Tours • http://downtownhouston.org/guidedetail/bat-tours-pontoon-boat/
Waugh Bridge
Resources 窶｢ Arnold, C. (2014). Bats Make Calls to Jam Rivals' Sonar窶認irst Time Ever Found. news.nationalgeographic.com 窶｢ Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Biological and Ecotoxicological Characteristics of Terrestrial Vertebrate Species Residing in Estuaries: Mexican free-tail bat. https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bioeco/mftbat.htm 窶｢ www.desertmuseum.org