Eastern red bats show up regularly along Georgia’s barrier islands and coastal wildlife refuges, with clusters of reports at Cumberland Island National Seashore, Sapelo Island, and Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. The live oaks and maritime forest that line those islands give this bat exactly what it needs: leafy tree canopy to roost in, rather than a cave or building.
Unlike Georgia’s other bats, eastern red bats don’t cluster in colonies or shelter underground. Each one hangs alone among tree leaves, wrapped in its own wings, and its rusty-orange fur makes it look convincingly like a curled, dead leaf hanging from a branch. Come fall, red bats that spent summer farther north migrate south through Georgia much like a bird would, rather than settling into a cave to hibernate through the cold.
That migratory pattern shows clearly in the state’s records, which climb sharply from March into May as bats move back north through Georgia and settle in for the summer, then taper off through the year as the population continues its seasonal push.
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