Courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Alliance:

This handsome fellow was found roosting at a busy Safeway in Conifer, Colorado, where he’d been hanging out in the same spot for four days.

Eastern Red Bats are fascinating for several reasons. Unlike our more familiar cave-dwelling bats, they’re solitary tree bats that roost among the leaves of deciduous trees, relying on their reddish-orange fur for camouflage.

They also have some remarkable cold-weather adaptations! Although many migrate south for the winter, Eastern Red Bats can survive subfreezing temperatures by entering torpor, a state of reduced metabolism, and can periodically awaken even in cold conditions.

Their unusual winter survival strategies continue to interest scientists.