Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a high school student, bat advocate, 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. Rachael has been writing the Baturday News for over three years.

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week and a happy Fourth of July! I had fun watching the fireworks, but I watched them on TV this year. That’s because my sister came home from Germany on the Fourth. She was there on an exchange trip and had a wonderful time. One of the places she visited was Altena Castle. It is a really pretty castle and she came back with a whole bunch of batty things for me! I would like to thank the people she was staying with for all my gifts. 🙂 So apparently, this castle has bats! Visitors aren’t allowed to go where the bats are, but I thought it was cool that they were there.

I read a really interesting article about bats and White Nose Syndrome. Researchers used temperature-sensing cameras to watch bats hibernating. They discovered that bats that huddle together to stay warm during the winter do better against WNS than bats who don’t. The fungus that causes White Nose Syndrome likes cold temperatures, so it doesn’t like the warmer bats as much. The cameras were placed in two caves. One cave had Indiana bats and the other had Little Brown bats. This study will help researchers understand bat activity and behaviors during hibernation, which will hopefully help them to help bats survive White Nose Syndrome.

If you would like to read the article, you can find it here.

I hope everyone has a good week. And I hope everyone in France has a happy Bastille Day! I plan on eating French pastries to celebrate.