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Name: lisa
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Question:
Where can I find information on the Indiana Bat? I need to know a lot of things for a thing my science teacher calls the Creature of the Week. The Indiana Bat [Myotis sodalis] is very similar to the Little Brown Bat but its hind feet are smaller and its fur is pinkish gray at the tips, but otherwise is brown. Body is 40-48 mm long and the tail is 30-42 mm in length. It is endangered and is missing from most of its former range in the midwest. Its range extends from Wisconsin into Arkansas and North Carolina and up into New England. It is very rare in Illinois, but common in southern Indiana.


Replies:
It hybernates in caves and gathers in compact clusters often near groups of little brown bats.

I have personally handled this bat and it is very defensive and threatens more than some other bat species.

Your teacher is cool to use this bat as the Creature of the Week.

For more information, contact your states Department of Natural Resources. Check out these sites:

http://endangered.fws.gov/i/a08.html

http://endangered.fws.gov/i/a/saa08.html

http://www.fws.gov/r3pao/eco_serv/endangrd/news/ind_bat.html

http://www.nwf.org/nwf/wildalive/bat/

Steve Sample

Try Bat Conservation International for a starter:
http://www.batcon.org/ Also any decent library should have some information

J. Elliott


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