Although they are sometimes referred to as flying mice, bats are not rodents. Little brown bats frequent attics and bat houses in summer. They sometimes fly into a house, prompting a call for a broom or a fishing net. They usually hibernate in caves in winter. The number and arrangement of bones in a bat's wing are the same as those of the human arm and hand.
Bats are clean, shy and intelligent creatures.
They occupy almost every habitat worldwide and are the primary predator of many insect pests that cause millions of dollars of damage to farms and forests annually. Pink forearms distinguish eastern pipistrelles, the most common Missouri cave bat. The red bat perches in trees. Bats of the World There are almost 1,000 different kinds of bats, which comprise nearly one-quarter of all mammal species. Worldwide, bats vary in size from only slightly more than 2 grams to more than 2 pounds.