A photo of an unidentified species from the Animal Kingdom was posted to the Facebook page of John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum over the weekend with this question: Can you guess what creature this is?
The hint was a voracious insectivore.
A day later the answer was revealed. It is an eastern red bat.
“This solitary bat roosts in trees during warmer seasons, often disguised as dead leaves,” the Philadelphia, Pa., refuge explained on Facebook. “To survive the winter cold, they migrate south where they can remain active or drop into the leaf litter and go into a state of torpor! Torpor, like hibernation, is a state of reduced metabolism and activity in response to cold temperature.
“The difference between hibernation and torpor is that hibernation is for an extended period, while torpor can be shorter. Eastern red bats, like this one found in December, can come out of torpor on warmer winter days to feed.
“So next time you are walking and you notice a rather fuzzy leaf…take a closer look!”
The eastern red bat, with its distinctive fur, is known to inhabit eastern North America and Bermuda.
Photos of the roosting eastern red bat courtesy of Kim Sheridan/USFWS. Photo of an eastern red bat being held is from Wikipedia Commons.
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