The Hoary bat is the largest found in Minnesota, and the Pipistrelle is the smallest. The Little Brown bat is the most common species in the summer. Since Minnesota can get very cold in the winter, most bats will migrate south to warmer climates or hibernate until the weather is warm again. When people think of bats, often the first thing they think of is a frightening, blood-sucking creature. Actually, only three of the known species of bats feed on the blood of other mammals, and these species are only located in Central America.
Bats are an extremely important part of the ecosystem wherever they live.
In the rainforest there are twenty genera of plants that depend on bats for pollination, and by dispersing the seeds that they eat, bats play an integral role in helping to regenerate the forest after clear-cutting or fires. Here in North America, bats also play a vital role in maintaining the ecosystem, since they are the primary predators of night-flying insects. An average-sized colony of 150 big brown bats can eat enough pests to prevent 18 million rootworms from attacking the crops of local farmers each summer. Thus the biological success of bats translates into less use of pesticides that can be harmful to the environment. In areas where human activity has reduced the bat populations, the numbers of insect pests have dramatically risen.