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! Since the Pope is visiting and his name is Pope Francis after St. Francis, who loved animals, I thought he’d just love it if this blog would be about an Italian bat. They have a lot of different bats in Italy, but I found the cutest one out there! It is called the European free-tailed bat. Since it’s a free-tailed bat, Freda likes it too. She thinks it’s one of her long lost European cousins.

The European free-tailed bat is really strong, with fur on its upper body. The fur is soft and plush-like, it’s long on its neck. The hair is also goes onto its wings and the base of the flight membrane.  The ears are very complex. They are large and rounded. The inner sides of the ears are pointing downwards and are very close to each other but don’t touch. I love its ears. Its wings are long and narrow, and can be grayish-brown or black. The face is long and its muzzle is wrinkled. The top lip has short hairs. I think it looks like he has a little mustache and beard. His feet are strong and his long tail goes beyond the flight membrane. You can read about it here.

I think it might be my new favorite bat! I love its little nose. It’s so cute!!!!!! Since the pope is originally from Argentina, next week…an Argentinian bat. I hope the pope enjoys his trip and that you all have a nice week!