The most common habitat in which to find this species appears to be oak, pinion, and juniper woodlands or ponderosa pine forest at middle elevations (O’Farrell and Studier 1980, Cockrum et al. 1996, Wilson and Ruff 1999). They also seem to use deserts (Cockrum et al. 1996), grasslands, and other woodlands. Roost sites may be in caves, mines, and buildings, these colonies may number several hundreds. They will also use bridges and rock crevices (Miner et al. 1996) as solitary day and night roosts and may hibernate in crevices as well. There are periodic changes in roost sites within a maternity roost because of thermoregulatory requirements of the bats, for example, clusters of bats move in response to temperature changes in different parts of the roost. Fringed bats are known to migrate, but little is known about the magnitude of movements. Females prepare physiologically for hibernation during the post-lactation period of late summer and early autumn, prior to migration. Individuals may awake from hibernation periodically throughout winter. Diet includes beetles and moths. These bats forage close to the vegetative canopy, and have relatively slow and highly maneuverable flight.

This species is found from Chiapas (southern Mexico) to southwestern South Dakota (USA) and British Columbia (Canada) (Simmons 2005). It occurs west to the Pacific coast and east to the Rocky Mountains, populations in Mexico do not reach either coast, being found predominantly in the central highlands.

It occurs in several protected areas in the United States and Mexico. Because of its requirements for optimal habitats, at state level it has been listed as imperiled for at least half of the states where it is present.