Georgia mammals

Southeastern Myotis in Georgia

Myotis austroriparius

Native to Georgia S3 Vulnerable in Georgia

Not listed as nonindigenous in Georgia by USGS NAS; native to its Georgia range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Southeastern Myotis in Georgia, by the numbers

Occasional in Georgia 65th most recorded of 109 mammals logged in Georgia

114 occurrence records
5 with iNaturalist photos

When to look for the Southeastern Myotis in Georgia

Most sightings fall in July to August.

114 Georgia occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Georgia records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February3
March2
April1
May10
June0
July52
August38
September3
October4
November1
December0

Monthly southeastern myotis occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Georgia.

Seasonality

Year-round in Georgia, with recorded sightings peaking in July–August.

Occurrence map

Where Southeastern Myotis has been recorded in Georgia

114 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

114 Georgia records mapped

Where it's recorded in Georgia

CountyRecords
Thomas County 93
Miller County 8
Chattahoochee County 4
Tift County 1
Berrien County 1
Lamar County 1
Baldwin County 1
Washington County 1
McIntosh County 1
Grady County 1
Monroe County 1
Decatur County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 12 Georgia counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Southeastern myotis reports concentrate in Georgia’s Coastal Plain, around swampy sites like Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the wet forests near Cumberland Island. That fits the species well: it’s a small bat built for hunting low over wetlands, not the drier uplands farther north in the state.

This bat roosts in caves, hollow trees, and under bridges, almost always close to water. Georgia’s limestone caves and river swamps in the Coastal Plain provide exactly that combination, letting the bat commute short distances between a daytime roost and open water where it skims for insects at night.

Records run year-round in Georgia, with reports peaking in March and May, though counts are still small enough that the pattern could shift with more observations. Reports likely follow easy access to swamp edges and known roost sites more than the bat’s true range within the state.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

More mammals in Georgia in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries