There have been 24 species of bats found in the Chiricahuas from 3 families. Almost all the bats that are found in the Chiricahuas are insect feeders, two species are nectar and pollen feeders and have even learned to take advantage of hummingbird feeders in peoples yards. Most of the bats found in the Chiricahuas mate in the fall and the females give birth, usually to one pup per year, starting in early summer. The Desert Red Bat can give birth to twins or sometimes even four pups. In many species the females form maternity colonies of several individuals to numbers in the millions to give birth and nurture their young.
Bats use a variety of places to roost during the day.
These can be rock crevices, caves, old mines, old buildings, attics, even using old woodpecker holes and cavities in trees which was recently discovered as roost sites for our Southwestern Myotis female bats and their young. Many species will take up residence in artificial roosts, most commonly in bat houses that people have put up to attract bats to their yards. Our bats are found in a wide diversity of habitats including desert grassland and foothills, riparian areas of canyon bottoms, to conifer forests at the higher elevations. Several species of our bats are migratory and head south for the winter where they remain active all winter, some migrate relatively short distances to overwintering sites usually in caves or old mines that provide the optimum conditions for hibernation. One of our bats, the Hoary bat, was discovered a few years ago to hibernate on the side of a tree out in the open where it was very well camouflaged with the bark of the tree.