Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a soon-to-be high 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. Rachael has been writing the Baturday News for three years.

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I would like to apologize to all the shark lovers out there. It seems that my previous post comparing bats to sharks might have cast sharks in a not so glamorous light. I completely agree that sharks are amazing animals. I just happen to believe that bats are more amazing. However, considering the fact that I was a little unkind to the oversized fishies, I feel it is important to share one more shark fact with you before I discuss bats. So, without further ado…

Apparently, the annual number of worldwide shark bites is 10 times less than the number of people bitten by other people in New York. (official source unknown – my sister told me J)

So, while I have not been able to completely verify this information, perhaps sharks aren’t the bad guys they are believed to be. People from New York might want to consider not biting each other though. It makes them look, um, well, like a not so glamorous fishy. Just kidding!

And, now for the bats…I was reading one of the bat magazines that I got from Bat Conservation International and there was an article about the history of bats in Japan. Historically, bats have been very popular in Japan and were believed to bring good luck. Pictures of bats often decorated pottery, sword kilts and kimonos. The article talked about how recently bats have been ignored. It also talked about how the bats in Japan are in trouble. They have 37 bat species in Japan. Three of these are listed as critically endangered. One is vulnerable. Four are near threatened. The main threat to bats in Japan is habitat destruction. I think it’s sad that bats seem to be having trouble all over the world. If you want to read the article, you can find it here:.  The article has a very cute picture of a Ryukyu flying fox in Japan.