The Atlas Obscura Podcast · Monday, August 31, 2026
Researchers initially doubted that bats could identify their individual pups among millions, but genetic analysis at Bracken Cave proved otherwise. Ryan Huling shared that despite the overwhelming numbers, mother bats can identify and feed their specific pups twice daily.
“And I learned while I was there, many of the researchers initially thought this can't be true, like when you have millions of bats, they all look identical, they're the size of a dime, there's no way that the bats know who their individual pup is.”
“But one of the bat researchers actually did genetic analysis on the bats and Bracken Cave and determined that no, it may seem overwhelming to us as human beings, but these bats identify their individual pups and going and feeding their pups twice a day and helping them thrive so that they can eventually learn to fly within the cave and then make their exit.”