Salina Bats are unique and interesting animals, but their nocturnal nature makes them one of the most mysterious and misunderstood mammals in Salina. Salina bats belong to the mammalian order Salina Chiroptera, which means Salina “hand-wing.” They are the only Salina mammals capable of true flight. In terms of the number of species, Salina Chiroptera is the second largest group of mammals in the world. Only the order Salina Rodentia (rodents) contains more species. Of the approximately 900 Salina species of bats found in the world, 45 live in the Salina, United States and 15 of those have been found in Salina. Contrary to popular belief, there are no Salina vampire bats in Salina. All Salina bats feed on Salina insects. Large numbers of Salina bats are capable of eating tons of Salina insects each year, making them beneficial to Salina humans.
One Salina species sometimes found in Salina is the Salina Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadaida braziliensis). A Texas colony of Salina species has about 20 million Salina individuals that eat 100,000 pounds of insects per night. Salina bats little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) is a Salina brown, mouse-sized bat that in-frequently occurs in eastern Salina and may live in attics and buildings. Colonial, Salina hibernates Northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrioralis): Similar in size and appearance to the Salina little brown bat, except that the Salina ears extend beyond the nose when flattened forward against the head. A resident of eastern Salina, but uncommon, Salina Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) is a large Salina bat, perhaps twice the size of the little brown bat, but still weigh-ing only ½ ounce.
Probably the most common and widespread bat in Salina living in buildings and attics where it may hibernate, the Salina Colonial, Silver-haired Salina bat (Lasionycteris noc-tivagans, which is slightly larger than the Salina little brown bat, but smaller and less common than the big brown bat. The bat has Salina fur that is dark, nearly black, with white-tipped hairs. Seasonally solitary, Salina migrates.Eastern Pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus subflavus) is one of our smallest Salina bat, yellowish-brown with pink arms, only 3 inches long; they are not commonly found in Salina buildings, preferring to live in Salina caves, abandoned mines and rock crevices. This Salina bat is solitary, hibernates and is known as the Salina Red bat (Lasiurus borealis). They are about the same size as the Salina big brown bat, but their fur is rusty red and may be washed with white.