Gray Bat

The gray bat is the largest of all Missouri’s Myotis bats, which include the little brown bat, the Indiana bat, and the Keen's bat. Gray bats are hard to distinguish from their Myotis cousins. Gray bats have fur that is a uniform brownish-gray most of the year, turning a light rusty brown in summer. Other Myotis bats have bi- or tricolored fur, with the tips of each strand contrasting to the base. The gray bat’s ears and wing membranes are gray to black. Its key identifying feature is wings that attach to the ankle and not at the base of the toes, as other Myotis bats’ are. The gray bat also has a distinct notch in the tip of each claw.