Charleston Bat Species:

South Carolina is home to 15 different bat species, which are excellent to have around as they are “natures pest controllers” often consuming mosquitos and other insects nightly. There are several bat species that are common to find in or near homes or businesses, including the mexican free-tail, little brown, and big brown bats. However if a bat is found in the interior, the bat should be submitted to South Carolinas Department of Health and Environment Control (DHEC) for rabies testing.

• Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus)
• Eastern Small Footed Bat (Myotis leibii)
• Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus)
• Northern Long-eared Bat (Myotis septettrionalis)
• Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat (Corynochinus rafinesquii)
• Southeastern Bat (Myotis austroriparius)
• Tri-colored Bat (Perimyotis subtavus)
• Mexican Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis)
• Eastern Red Bat (Lasiurus borealis)
• Evening Bat (Nycticeius humeralis)
• Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus)
• Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis)
• Northern Yellow Bat (Lasiurus intermedius)
• Seminole Bat (Lasiurus seminolus)
• Silver-haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans)

Bat Behavior

There are several bat species in every state, but most nuisance concerns involve the Little Brown Bat, Big Brown Bat, and the Mexican Free Tail Bats. All are nocturnal, primarily feeding at low light through dark. Most of their time is spent on roost sleeping until they emerge at dark. Man made structures make excellent areas for bats to roost in a colony. Bats can live 15 years up to 30 years in the wild and have between 1 and 2 pups at birth between Mid April – Mid August. Most people wonder how a bat can find food at night? They use echolocation or bouncing of sound waves to navigate and feed. Colonies of Bats can be very noisy from moving in the walls to high pitched chirping and smells from fecal accumulations or large colonies can drive people from a structure.