Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a middle school student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big brown bats that used the outside of her former home for a winter roost. Her family cheerfully hosted the wild colony for years.

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I have some very sad news. I found a news story about White Nose Syndrome. In northeastern Minnesota, hundreds of bats were found dead at the entrance of a mine. Scientists tested the bats and found out that they died of WNS. This means that White Nose Syndrome is now in the state of Minnesota! Since WNS was discovered in New York, it has spread to 27 states and 5 Canadian provinces. It has killed nearly 6 million bats [a very conservative estimate--ed.].

There are 7 species of bats in Minnesota. Four of them hibernate during the winter, so they are at the greatest risk of getting WNS. Since the mortality rate is between 90 and 100%, this is very bad news for the bats of Minnesota. Scientists think that the mortality rate might be different from site to site and in different species. Hopefully the Minnesota bats will have better luck than bats in other states. The bats here in Virginia have suffered miserably.

If you want to read the story, you can find it here.

And now for a general “public service announcement”…Daylight Savings Time begins tomorrow morning. Sadly, this means that we are losing an hour of sleep. So, this is your friendly reminder to spring ahead tonight so you won’t be late tomorrow.