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. She now enjoys watching the bats fly over her home on summer evenings. Rachael has been writing the Baturday News for over three years.

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I enjoyed my last week of freedom before school starts again. I am not looking forward to having to get up early again, but it will be nice to see the friends I didn’t get to spend time with over the summer.

I have some very exciting news! Tonight is International Bat Night!!! There are going to be events celebrating my favorite furry creatures all around the world. The best and most wonderful event will, of course, be Bat Fest Arlington. Bat Fest is going to be held tonight at the Gulf Branch Center & Park from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm. Mrs. Sturges, the director of Save Lucy (and my fearless leader), will be there with some of Save Lucy’s bats. I am planning on going, so I hope to see some of you there.

And now, for some very exciting news for the people living in Nantucket, Massachusetts…you have Northern Long-Eared Bats!!! Until recently, biologists didn’t realize that Nantucket had resident bats, but now they say the bats are staying on the island all year long. Since Nantucket doesn’t have any caves for bats to hibernate in, the fungus that causes White Nose Syndrome doesn’t seem to have found the island yet. That is obviously very good news for our little furry friends. Let’s hope the fungus stays away and the little bats of Nantucket continue to be healthy.

If you would like to read more about these bats, you can find an article here.

I hope everyone has a great first week of school! Enjoy the last weekend of summer vacation and have a wonderful International Bat Night!

I would like to wish everyone living in the path of Hurricane Harvey good luck. The hurricane made landfall yesterday as a Category 4 hurricane and it looks like the people in its path are in for a very difficult time. I hope everyone was able to evacuate in time and that everyone is safe. I would like to thank the people in northern and western Texas who have opened up their cities for all the people fleeing the storm. It must be terribly scary to have to evacuate and it’s nice to know there is a place for them to go. Good luck to you all!