Many people associate bats with rabies, horror movies and Halloween, although these flying mammals do not attack people. Instead of being a menace, bats play a significant role in our environment. A major nocturnal predator of insects, bats help control populations of mosquitos, flies, beetles and moths. As few as 50 bats can eat up to 30 million insects in just one summer. Male bats hunt for insects at night and roost alone in trees during the day.
Mothers leave at dusk and return throughout the night to feed their young.
Most species have only one offspring per year. The state's largest bat, the hoary bat, is a tree bat weighing one ounce. Our smallest, the eastern pipistrelle, weighs only one-fifth of an ounce. It is often the female and young of little and big brown bats that can be found in Vermont attics during the summer. Some Vermont caves and abandoned mines containing hibernating bats have been vandalized.