The Western Small-Footed bat is a fairly small bat approximately 1 ½ to 2 inches long with a wingspan around 8-10 inches weighing in at 4-6 grams. This bat is found in Western Canada and the Western US down into Mexico in the desert, semi-desert and desert mountain regions. These particular bats are a very hardy species, being the last to enter the hibernacula and the first to leave. It also survives in below freezing temperatures and does not appear to go into complete hibernation.
The feeding habits of these bats are not well known but are known to eat small insects such as lepidopterans (butterflies,moths), coleopterans (beetles), dipterans (midges, flies, Neem Oil For Bed Bugs mosquitoes), neuropterans (lacewings), hymenopterans (wasps,ants,bees, sawflies), and hemipterans (true bugs) . These bats hunt over rocks rather than water as other bats do.
Most bats winter hibernation areas are away from their summer roosts, however the Western Small-footed bats hibernacula is in the same area as their summer roosts. Nursing colonies have been found in rock cliffs and clay banks. Their life span seems to have a maximum of 12 Ok Google How Do You Get Rid Of Bed Bugs years with the average around 5-7 years. There is extremely little known about the habitat requirements for these bats. The altitude ranges for these bats appear to be between 2120-8670 feet. This is based on unpublished information from Heritage Data management System.
All in all an interesting species of bat that there appears to be only a limited amount of information available compared to other bats. As I learn more I will update this article.
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