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 read an awesome article that I just have to share with you! Obviously, it’s about bats, but it’s also good news about bats and white-nose syndrome.

Researchers have discovered that the winter populations of some hibernating bats have stabilized. These bats live in the same areas that white-nose syndrome first appeared years ago! They haven’t figured out how or why these bats are surviving, and there are still a lot fewer bats now than there were, but the fact that more aren’t dying in upstate New York is very good news.

Scientists think that bats might be able to adapt to the fungus. This is obviously very important, because if they can adapt, they might be able to survive. They discovered that the surviving bats are waking up less during hibernation, so now they have a better chance of storing enough energy to survive the winter.

Since white-nose syndrome is still spreading across North America, hibernating bats are still in a lot of trouble. Last week, WNS was found in Washington state. That was horrible news because now WNS is a coast-to-coast disease. It has been found in 28 states and 5 Canadian provinces.

I think it’s really sad that Fairfax County, VA doesn’t have any little brown bats anymore. That means that kids like me will never get to see one. I hope that the little brown bats in New York will make a comeback. If they can do that, maybe they can slowly move south again. If that happens, we might get them here again. Since little brown bats only have 1 pup a year, it is going to take a long time for the population to recover. I guess I’ll just have to be patient.

If you want, you can read the article here.

And now, for other news…it’s supposed to snow a little bit tomorrow! It won’t be enough to build a little snow bat, but it will be enough to make us cold. I feel sorry for all the little critters because I think everyone is ready for spring to stay for a while. And, I think a little groundhog LIED TO ME!!! I KNOW WHEN I’VE BEEN LIED TO!!!