AMERICAN BATS — HANDLEY 157 



In some regions where natural caves occur, P. rafinesquii has been 

 found in buildings but not in caves, despite diligent search. Thus, 

 the only specimen from Florida Caverns State Park was taken in a 

 building (Sherman, 1945, p. 201). Hibbard (1954, in htt.) found the 

 species only in the attic of an old house at Mammoth Cave, Ky. 



Where P. rafinesquii occurs with some frequency in caves, it usually 

 has been found in small caves, or near the entrances of larger caverns. 

 P. M. Smith (1954, in litt.) found an individual 25 feet from the 

 entrance of a small cave in Indiana and another 50 feet from the en- 

 trance of a small limestone cave in Ohio. Ganier (1954, in litt.) found 

 numerous individuals 30 to 100 feet from the entrance of a small cave 

 on a wooded mountainside, 400 feet above a valley jfloor in Tennessee. 

 Hahn (1908, p. 145) observed this species in Indiana only in dim 

 light near cave entrances and believed (1909, p. 619) that it is not 

 truly a cave dweller. However, all records from the northern fringe 

 of the range of this species are from caves or subterranean excavations 

 and, it should be noted, all are for the cooler months of the year 

 (October to May) , indicating, possibly, a choice of some other roosting 

 place during the warmer months. 



P. rafinesquii also inhabits other cave substitutes. Neill (1953, 

 p. 282) reported one that was found clinging to the wall of an artificial 

 limestone grotto, built for ornamental purposes and overgrown with 

 ferns and mosses so as to resemble natural limestone caverns which 

 are numerous around Silver Springs, Fla. Moore (1949a, p. 60) 

 recorded finding big-eared bats on two occasions in a concrete culvert 

 (6X6X75 feet) at the bottom of a ravine, some 40 feet deep, which 

 probably had water running through it the year around (Florida). 

 Goodpaster and Hoffmeister (1952, p. 365) found big-eared bats on 

 several occasions in western Tennessee in an open cistern, 20 feet 

 deep, built in the shape of a bottle, with open top about 2}i feet in 

 diameter extending about 3 feet above the ground, and containing 

 about an inch of water at the bottom. In warm weather the bats 

 hung near the top; in cold weather near the bottom. Harper (1927, 

 p. 280) noted that a Plecotus had been found in a turpentine still in 

 the Okefenokee Swamp. 



P. rafinesquii roosts both in occupied and abandoned buildings. 

 In the Great Smoky Mountains, Stupka (1954, in litt.) found this 

 species to be a regular inhabitant of a house that had been abandoned 

 for about 15 years. Two or three rooms and the attic were utilized 

 by the bats. He reported others that had been found in a schoolhouse 

 (in summer) and in a Civilian Conservation Corps camp building. 

 In the same region, the Komareks (1938, p. 148) found Plecotus in 

 the attic of an abandoned schoolhouse and on the chimney, above 

 the hearth, in an occupied cabin. Barbour (1957, p. 141) located a 



