Upon leaving their day-roosts, bats stream towards a water source to rehydrate. The bats would then fly around within a meter of the water's surface picking up small insects in mid-air. We would often capture bats deep in the wooded areas of the Arboretum, but this activity was always quite low in terms of the numbers of bats captured. As opposed to large tracts of uninterrupted forest monoculture, fragmented habitats tend to concentrate insects along edges thereby benefiting foraging bats. Another positive affect of humans on bat populations is the addition of lights.
Lights also tend to concentrate insects, namely moths.
Dead trees provide tremendous wildlife habitat under loose bark, in hollows, and under fallen woody debris. In fact, we found no trees on the property that could function as permanent maternity roosts. It is our understanding that the Arboretum's bats are simply not living in the Arboretum, rather they are living in surrounding neighborhoods and commute each evening into the Arboretum for a bite to eat. As mentioned previously, bats are important components of an ecosystem. Against this backdrop, bats can easily be seen flying across the water's surface for about 30 minutes.