Greater horseshoe bat

Description

The greater horseshoe bat is the largest European horseshoe bat species with a maximum length of seven cm (without tail) and a wingspan of up to 40 cm. The weight is 17 to 30 g. On the upperparts it has a grey-brown, slightly reddish tinge to its fur, which changes to greyish-white on the underparts. The size of the horseshoe bat and the shape of the nose on its head make it easy to identify.

Habitat

Summer habitats are warm, draught-free attics, church towers, ruins and caves. The entrance and exit openings must be large enough for the animals to fly through freely. From the beginning of October to the end of April, frost-proof, draught-free and sufficiently humid (min. 95 % relative humidity) mine tunnels, rock caves and underground vaults are used as winter quarters. The preferred ambient temperature is 7 to 10 degrees Celsius, the minimum temperature 4 degrees, the maximum temperature 12 degrees. During hibernation, horseshoe bats wrap their bodies with their patagium.

The animals show a high degree of site fidelity. The winter and summer roosts are never more than 50 km apart.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Große_Hufeisennase). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 09 August 2021