What is a bat’s natural habitat?

If you are quite honest with yourself, you probably don’t really care very much about the natural habitat of the bat. Your first inclination is to just hope that these bats don’t come anywhere near your home. Because of their ugly appearance and the fact that they carry a large number of pathogens, most just want these animals as far away from them as they can possibly get.



This may be a natural reaction, but it is not a safe one at all. Whether you are talking about the area you live or speaking about areas that you may vacation or travel to on business, knowing bats are in your area can help you to be as safe as possible. Because of the dangerous health risks that these mammals pose, knowing if you, your family, and your pets are safe where you are should be an important piece of knowledge that you should have in your arsenal.

Where Bats Are Found?

Now that your interest has been piqued, you may be asking yourself what is a bats natural habitat? First of all, you should know that bats are part of the road family. Many would look at this and assume that bats would have a similar habitat of that of rats or mice, that is not the case at all. This is one area that establishes the bat is a rather unique creature.

A bat is able to fly as far as 50 miles during the nighttime. What this means is that its location in terms of where it roosts is usually not anywhere near where it hunts. This allows the bat to find such locations as caves, barns, or other large but yet secluded areas to live, and then go out at night to find locations that would provide it with a ready supply of food and water.

Most bats are found in North, Central, and South America. In the United States, the locations are usually in the southern states where it is much warmer. However, bats can be found in areas like Wisconsin, but usually migrate to other states in the South during the wintertime. The cold weather is too much for these creatures and so they need to leave to find a warmer climate to live in.

Because of their need for warmer weather, you will find bats in abundance in places like New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. They are also in abundance in Mexico, and many of the other Latin American countries where heat and dry climate is the standard.

As long as the climate is warm for the most part, bats can be found in a diverse range of ecosystems. For example, many bat species are found along the shores in the country of Guatemala. Other forms a bat are found in forest areas or rain forest areas in Latin America. Many are found in the barren desert area of New Mexico.

The one thing that is necessary for any bat is to find a place where it can roost upside down. Bats have a very unusual sleeping arrangement that requires them to cling to the ceiling of whatever structure they are in while sleeping upside down. Caves, barns, the attic in people’s homes, and the eaves of building structures make for the perfect location for bats to find a place to roost. This is a necessary aspect of their survival, as they are unable to sleep and other arrangements, and the unusual way of roosting also ensures greater protection from predators that are not able to reach them. It is another truly unique aspect of the bat that makes them one of nature’s true oddities. NEED LOCAL HELP? We have wildlife removal professionals servicing 95% of the USA. Click here to hire a local bat removal expert in your home town. Updated 2018. It's best to be educated on the subject, so browse this site and especially read the bats in the attic home page, or email me if you have any more questions about What is a bat’s natural habitat?



Wildlife Education - Information and Advice for the Safe Removal of Bats from Attics