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 happy Thanksgiving! In honor of Thanksgiving, I said last week that I would write about a bat from Turkey. I did some research and I found a very cute bat! It’s called the Bechstein’s Bat.

The Bechstein’s Bat is hard to find. It likes to roost in holes that are made by woodpeckers or in rock and tree crevices. The bat lives all over Europe, including Turkey. It is mostly found in the United Kingdom though.

The Bechstein’s Bat is a very sneaky little bat. The sound that it makes for echolocation is very hard for its prey and predators to hear. It’s also hard for humans to detect it with their radar equipment. Being so quiet is a big advantage for the bat because it is able to sneak up on its prey without being detected. This helps the bat find yummy moths, spiders, flies, mosquitoes and beetles. The bat eats so much that it is close to the top of the forest food chain.

This bat is small. He is only 4.3 – 5.3 cm (1.68 - 2.09 in) long and weighs 7 – 14 g (.25 - .49 oz).  Its wingspan is 25 – 35 cm (9.84 – 13.78 in). Its back is light brown and its stomach is pale grey to white. The Bechstein’s bat’s ears are small compared to some other bats’, but they are still pretty big. I think they are adorable.

If you want to read more about this cute little bat, you can find some information here.