Data Sheet

Pronunciation: nick-tin-oh-mops ma-crow-tis

Big free-tailed bats typically live in deserts and arid grasslands where rocky outcrops, canyons, or cliffs provide ideal roosts. Occasionally these bats will roost in buildings. They feed mostly on moths, but also crickets, flying ants, froghoppers, leafhoppers, and stinkbugs. The bats are seldom encountered by people, though they can often be heard calling high overhead in cliff-sided river valleys of the Big Bend area.