© Japan Travel Bureau
© Dietmar Nill/naturepl.com
Habitat: from the southern half of the continental United States through most of Mexico, and through most of Central America into South America
Status: Least Concern
If a mouse and a bat had a baby it would make a Brazilian Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis). Those ears are out of control! No doubt they help it find delicious bug snacks in the early mornings and evenings. Here’s a cool fact about these guys: this species flies the highest among bats, at altitudes around 3300 m! It’s a bird… it’s a plane… no, it’s a bat/mouse!
The largest known colony of Brazilian Free-tailed Bats is found at Bracken Cave
, north of San Antonio, Texas, with nearly 20 million bats; research indicates the bats from this colony congregate in huge numbers at altitudes between 180 and 1,000 m (590 and 3,300 ft), and even as high as 3,000 m (9,800 ft). You bat-er believe it!