Gray bats live in limestone karst areas in Alabama, northern Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, northwestern Florida, western Georgia, southern Kansas, southern Indiana, southern and southwestern Illinois, northeastern Oklahoma, northeastern Mississippi, western Virginia, and possibly western North Carolina.
Gray bats are cave obligate (or cave dependent) bats, meaning that with very few exceptions (in which cave-like conditions are created in man-made structures) gray bats only live in caves, not in abandoned barns or other structures as other species of bats are known to do.
Less than 5% of all available caves are inhabited by gray bats.
Thus, any disturbance to these cave habitats can be extremely detrimental to gray bat populations.
Gray bats live in limestone karst areas in Alabama, northern Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, northwestern Florida, western Georgia, southern Kansas, southern Indiana, southern and southwestern Illinois, northeastern Oklahoma, northeastern Mississippi, western Virginia, and possibly western North Carolina. Gray bats are cave obligate (or cave dependent) bats, meaning that with very few exceptions (in which cave-like conditions are created in man-made structures) gray bats only live in caves, not in abandoned barns or other structures as other species of bats are known to do. Less than 5% of all available caves are inhabited by gray bats. Thus, any disturbance to these cave habitats can be extremely detrimental to gray bat populations.
Gray bat