Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 6th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big browns bats that use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years.

Hello Everyone.  There have been a lot of very small bats coming into rehabilitation.  The people here at Save Lucy have been taking very good care of them, but some of them have been badly injured.  Our most recent little guy came in on Valentine’s Day.  Since he was such a handsome fellow and he arrived on Valentine’s Day, he was named Rudy Valentino.

Little Rudy is a male silver hair bat.  They usually weigh 9 grams and females usually weigh 12-14 grams.  Little Rudy only weighed 7 grams.  He has been eating well, but had an injured wing.  Hopefully he will heal and will be well enough to be released later.  If not, he is such a wonderful little guy that he’ll make a very good education bat for the Save Lucy Campaign.

Another bat that came in was a very small hoary bat.  He only weighed 16 grams.  He should have been 28-35 grams.  He also has a very small forearm.  It’s only about ¾ of the length of a normal hoary bat in the winter.

Over the summer, a little red bat came in.  They named her Dawn.  She was only as big as a 1 month old, but by that time, she should have been 6-8 weeks old and able to fly.

The people at Save Lucy think that some bats might have taken advantage of the long, mild summer and had their pups late in the season.  Bat pups that are born late in the season might not have the time to build up the fat reserves they need to survive.  They also might not be old enough to learn how to survive in time before the winter.  We have been very lucky that these little ones were found and brought to the rehabilitators before it was too late.  Hopefully they will be able to recover and grow up to be healthy bats.

I would also like to report that the poor little bat that was put in a paint can is doing well.  He is with a rehabilitator now and is recovering from his ordeal.  He has even made a little bat friend.  Sadly, not all of the bats that come in make it.  It’s nice to be able to report the happy news.