Cave myotis are intensely social bats, packing into a handful of caves and abandoned mines by the thousands instead of spreading out the way most mouse-eared bats do. Kansas sits near the northern edge of the species’ range, and the largest colonies in the state cluster in the southwest, not far from Cimarron National Grassland. Records also come from Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve and Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area, more likely bats passing through than roosting there.
Kansas doesn’t break out iNaturalist and GBIF counts separately for this species, and records are few either way, but the monthly numbers tell their own story. Eleven months are nearly silent, then August alone accounts for 25 of the recorded sightings, almost certainly a single roost count or survey visit rather than a true summer surge. That’s how a colonial species shows up in the data: one trip to the right cave can outweigh a year of scattered records.
NatureServe ranks cave myotis as vulnerable in Kansas (S3), a real conservation concern tied to how few roost sites the state’s population depends on.
Full species profile
