When Do Bats Reproduce?

Email Report

Guest

asked 3 years ago

1 Answer - Sort by: Date | Rating

Most bats will mate in their second year. Some do not breed at all until they are seven to ten years old. They mate and give birth once a year usually to a single young. Twins and even triplets have been known but are rare. Compare this to a mouse which might produce 90 young a year and it is clear why bats are the rarer species. Gestation takes between 45 and 90 days but tracking bat mating is so difficult the precise timings remain something of a mystery. Bats can live up to 30 years but the risk of bat life mean average life expectancy is far lower at between four and five years. Female bats emerge from hibernation to find nursery roosts around about April which are shared with other females and very few males. The births take place in the usual hanging position but the females are able to create a pouch with their tail membranes to catch the young as they emerge. The umbilical cord has also been known to act as a sort of maternal bungee cord preventing the tiny new born bat from plummeting to the ground.

Leave a comment Report

0 0

Sheel9

answered 3 years ago

Hi. I was out black walking my dog last night and she saw something at the side of the road. She went to see what it was and it moved and she jumped back. So I went over to get a better look with my flashlight. Very strange, it looked like a ball of brown fur with wings. As I continued looking I realized it was actually two bats balled up together. Suddenly, one bat flew off. I thought the one that was left was dead or injured since it did not move. I ran to my garage which is only one house over, I grabbed a styrofoam container so I could put the injured or dead bat in it. And as soon as I came back to the place where they had been, the other bat had disappeared. I suppose the bat was waiting for me to leave so he could safely fly off.? I couldn't find it anywhere, so I guess it was not injured or dead. My question is, if they were mating, why were they on the ground doing it? Could they have been fighting? Or playing?? Or perhaps could they have been mating upside down on a limb and fell off?
Thanks for your input.

Report