Tennessee’s western little brown myotis records cluster in the forested mountains of East Tennessee, around Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee National Forest, and Roan Mountain State Park. The limestone caves and old mine shafts tucked into those ridges are exactly the kind of hibernation site this bat depends on.
A colonial bat built for water and warmth
Unlike Tennessee’s solitary tree bats, this species gathers in groups, sometimes by the thousands, in caves, hollow trees, and buildings. It hunts low over ponds and slow rivers for moths and mosquitoes, and mothers raise a single pup each year in warm, crowded nursery roosts.
A thin record in a hard-hit range
Tennessee has only 53 confirmed records, peaking in February, which likely reflects how few people survey hibernating colonies rather than the bat’s true presence. East Tennessee’s caves sit within the range where white-nose syndrome has hit hibernating colonies hardest since the disease reached the region, part of why this once-common bat is now rated Endangered.
Full species profile
