 Little Brown Bats are a bat species that can be found from Canada down to Central Mexico. 1 Even though they’re called brown bats they can actually be red or golden colored. They’re very small animals, weighing less than an ounce. 2 These bats live in colonies that consist of thousands of their species. This adds an extra challenge because they’re susceptible to disease, which can spread very easily through their numbers when they live so close together. 2 The disease is called white-nose syndrome. It affects Little Brown Bats when they’re hibernating. 2 The basis of the disease is caused by a fungus. It grows on the bats and it causes them to wake up during torpor more often than they should. This means they waste much-needed energy for the winter and end up dying. 3 This has wreaked havoc through Little Brown Bat colonies. It’s killed millions of them. Colonies have faced declines of 90% due to this disease. 3 Little Brown Bats aren’t the only animals that hibernate in North America. Check out other species that hibernate! |
