Mating Season of Bats

It’s right that period of summer when bats form big colonies and it’s a mating season to blame. Thousands of squeaking winged creature are mating almost nonstop hanging upwards in the caves. They look like a solid moving copulating mass.

 Thousands of swarming blind mammals are inseminating thousands of their mates.

They form colonies in the mid of summer for procreation. Colonies are formed in various ways and at different places: basements, abandoned buildings, caves, clefts in rocks etc. The main factor is to do it where nothing would disturb them.

Usually males and females of bats spend their time separately from each other in the caves. But not in a mating season… It’s the time when they need each other more than ever.

Interesting enough but females are impregnated not during the process of mating. As a rule sperm remains in the body of the female for all autumn and winter till it becomes warm enough and it can get enough food to breed and feed a baby.

Gestational age of female bats is from 45 to 70 days. They give birth to one or more rarely – two mousekins. For giving birth to their babies females form separate colonies in shelters. The more females such colony has the more chances have babies for survival. Mousekins are born blind and nude, they cannot regulate the temperature of their bodies being very vulnerable and unviable without mothers.

When a baby is still too little the female flies hunting together with it to share the warmth of her body.

The feeding periods lasts for about six or eight weeks. When this period is over the babies start having their hair grow and orientate themselves.

 It’s when mother stops taking her baby with her when she flies hunting. They form something like a kindergarten in the colony. Mother comes back after hunting and feeds her baby.

 One year old bats and childless females teach babies to fly and to hunt.