A more appropriate name for a bat nursery is a maternity roost.
Most bat species give live birth to only one pup per year. However, some species can give birth to twins or multiple pups. For 3 to 4 weeks, the baby is incapable of flying and is latched onto its mother’s nipple. It is not until they are about five weeks old that the baby bat can begin flying lessons and leaves its roost.
If you live in Texas, there are at least two large bat nurseries. The smaller (Mason, Tx) is 3+ million bats for a couple of months.
That’s really cool, wish I was closer!
Where the larger one?
San Antonio
Do… Do bats give birth on the ceiling?
They do! They hang
head upupside down and catch the baby as it’s born, placing it in a little pouch.Female bats also store sperm for months after mating until they ovulate, from fall/winter to spring.
EDIT: Did some more research and discovered that they hand upside down, not head up while they give birth. And to prove it, here is a video of a bat giving birth. It’s awesome, partially because of how excited the scientists get. You should really watch it.
Ok, I found a video of a bat giving birth. Edited my original comment to correct that they hang upside down. The video is awesome.
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When I still lived with my parents, their attic was a nursery for local bats. I could hear the baby bats and it was great. Then my parents had Orkin come out and seal off the attic when the mama and baby bats weren’t there. I hope the bats found another nursery nearby.
I hope so too!
