Common long-eared bat

The Common Long-eared Bat is a medium-sized bat with striking, long ears that have eyelash-like hair on the inside. They have long, loose fur, which is grayish-brown on the back and light gray on the belly. Furthermore, they have light flesh-colored lips and a light grayish-brown fly skin.

Long-eared bats fly out relatively late: half an hour after sunset.

In winter, long-eared bats live in forts, ice cellars, bunkers and marl quarries; but also in ordinary cellars, houses and churches, such as here in Dworp. They especially like attics, and a temperature between 1 and 8 °C suits them best. In summer, long-eared bats form colonies in buildings, hollow trees and bat boxes. They're not that picky.

The Common Long-eared Bat is mainly found in (near) forests and parks. There they prefer to look for food, but sometimes they also just hunt in meadows, orchards and gardens. When they hunt, they fly slowly and close to the ground. They mainly eat butterflies and earwigs, but they also eat spiders, caterpillars and daytime active flies and butterflies.

The mating season of the Common Long-eared Bat falls in autumn and lasts until spring. Groups of pregnant females are called "nurseries", in which an average of 10 to 50 female bats sit together. The males spend the summer alone. Common long-eared bats give birth to one young per
times, very occasionally two. At the end of their fourth week, the youngsters are already able to fly.

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