Red Bat

Lasiurus blossevillii

Description: Body length of 3 3/4" to 5", with a wingspan of about 13". Long soft fur, color ranges from bright orange-red on males to golden brown on females, distinct white shoulder patches, slight frosted look to furtips.

Range: Found from southern Canada, throughout U.S., all the way down to South America.

Habitat: Usually among dense foliage, in forests and wooded areas, making long migrations from the northern latitudes to warmer climes for winter, sometimes hibernates in tree hollows or woodpecker holes.

Diet: Wide variety of flying insects, particularly moths, beetles, planthoppers, leafhoppers, ants, flies, and other crop pests.

Behavior: Very fast flyers, clocked at 40 mph in level flight. One of the few bat species to bear more than one young each year, triplets and quadruplets are common.