Ears built to fold away at rest
This bat’s ears are its whole identity. They run nearly as long as its body, and when it settles down to roost, it curls them back against its head like a pair of small rams’ horns rather than leaving them upright. No other bat sharing its forested range folds its ears that way, so a roosting bat with curled-back ears is an easy call even without a clear look at the rest of the animal.
A forest range stretching into east Texas
Confirmed records trace a swath of the southeastern United States, from the forests of Kentucky and Tennessee down through the Gulf states. The range only just reaches into east Texas, at the wooded western edge of where this bat is willing to live. North Carolina alone accounts for a large share of documented records, likely reflecting survey effort in the Appalachian forests there more than any real concentration of bats along the coast.
Gleaning moths, then vanishing into a hollow tree
It hunts by gleaning moths and other insects directly off leaves and bark rather than chasing them through open air, a quieter, more deliberate style of hunting suited to cluttered forest understory. By day, it disappears into hollow trees or old, abandoned buildings, tucking into a space just large enough to hide the animal and those folded ears.
Losing shelter even where food remains
The IUCN lists the species as least concern, but that global label hides a real local problem. Large hollow trees take decades to form, and cutting them down, or disturbing a roost inside an old building, removes shelter even in places where moths and other prey are still plentiful. Feeding habitat alone doesn’t keep this bat around. It also needs somewhere safe to hang, folded ears and all, once the hunting is done.
