Mexican Free-Tailed Bats

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Mexican free-tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis, residing in the Molossidae family, are minute creatures. Also commonly known as Brazilian free-tailed bats, Mexican free-tails inhabit regions from desert communities, such as Yuma and Mexico to the pinion-juniper woodland and pine-oak forests of Oregon and Nevada, they can live in elevations at sea level and above. The largest U.S. populations of free-tailed bats live in the West. They are mostly found in Texas where they form childbearing colonies numbering upwards in the millions. Mexican free-tailed bats are found in Mexico and most of the southwestern United States. Mines and abandoned limestone caves are just a few locations that the larger childbearing communities call home. On the contrary, smaller childbearing colonies have been noted to reside in tree hollows throughout the land. What they make home is most commonly found by water giving them the opportunity to drink and to catch their prey that is attracted to water. By estimation, over one million Mexican free-tailed bats choose Texas as a prime location to raise their young. Most of these bats migrate south to Central America and Mexico during the winter. They prefer the warmer climates rather than the cold harsh winters of northern Americas.
The Mexican free-tailed bat species are classified as carnivore. Although, a more specific classification of a Mexican free-tailed bat is listed as aerial insectivore. This class uses echolocation to locate its prey, while inactive or in motion. Dietary needs of Tadarida brasiliensis, include but are not limited to moths, beetles, flies dragonflies, and wasps. Egg-laden moths contain a high percentage of fat, making them the main candidates for feasting by nursing female free-tails...

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