Leslie Sturges

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 6th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big browns bats that use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years. Hello everyone! The people at Save Lucy were so happy when the pups got big enough to go 6 hours between feedings. They thought they could finally get some rest and then 2 more little babies showed up. The new pups only weigh 3 grams! They are so tiny! If anyone from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington is reading this, the people at Save Lucy thank you for bringing them the little pups. Of course they can’t wait until they can go more than 3 hours without eating. Soon these little babies should be healthy big brown bats. Well, here they are! Since the new pups were on the Save Lucy Facebook page already, some people have been asking questions about them. I thought they were really good questions that everyone might want to know the answers to. One question was how fast do the babies grow? The pup in the picture below came in at 4.1 grams and 10 days later he weighed 9.2 grams. They grow really fast for a mammal. That’s why the moms have to eat so many bugs! Isn’t he cute? Someone else said, “Awwww are they cold? Poor naked babies!” They do get very cold. In the wild they depend on moms and the colony for warmth until they grow fur. The rehabilitators at Save Lucy keep them in an incubator so they stay warm. Another person wanted to know what happened to their mommy. I thought that was a really good question and I think the little pups do too. We’ll never know what happened to […]

This week’s blog features Rachael’s imagination inspired by a new illustration by E. Hi Everyone. Tinybat wrote another poem! I think it’s pretty good for a little bat. Don’t you? And he did it with no help…  Tinybat’s Vacation Dream  On the beach I’ll lay But not in the sun of the day I’ll be in Hawaii soon To tan by the light of the moon The umbrella will give me shade My pale winter look will fade Will a bat get a burn?     I’ll try to remember to turn     While I sip my beetle drink     The ice against the glass will clink     I dream of going to the beach     But for me, that might be out of reach     Instead, I’ll stay here with my people     And maybe eat a little beetle

Hi Everyone!  I thought you might want to see the first bat babies of 2014.  They are so cute and tiny!  Unfortunately, one of them didn’t make it.  The other one is doing well.  It’s hard to raise them and take care of them all alone because they live in colonies in the wild. I hope the surviving pup continues to do well. I promise to include more baby pictures when I get them. (Update: There are now 4 big brown bat pups in house and more are being transported to us on Monday.–Ed.)

Hi Everyone, A famous poet named Maya Angelou passed away this week. She worked for equal rights. I am dedicating this week’s blog to her. One of her quotes is, “We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” Even though she said this about the fight for equal rights, I thought it could also relate to bats with White Nose Syndrome. Right now, it doesn’t look good for our bats. I think that even though we are suffering through a huge defeat, if we work together, we can still succeed and not be defeated. I think that with all the research that is being done right now, they will eventually be able to cure the disease. Let’s all hope that they are able to do this before too many more bats die. And here is a happy bat picture to encourage everyone…

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 6th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big browns bats that use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years. Since the weather has been getting warm, bats have been forming maternity colonies to raise their pups. And because of that, it’s a great time to spot bats. The people at the Save Lucy or the Delaware Bat Program will train you on how to use bat detectors to find where the perfect bat spotting location is and how to do a proper count at a maternity colony. Bat spotters who are monitoring maternity colonies need to get at least one pre-volant count at their site, so you’ll need to learn how to do that. The pre-volant count period is between May 15 and June 21, so it has already begun. By the way, pre-volant means before the year’s bat pups start flying around. They need a count of bats that fly out from the roost. Once again, if you would like to help please contact Save Lucy. It sounds like fun, doesn’t it? ________________ ^^ \|/  \|/ ^.-.^ Bat Hanging Upside Down

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 6th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big browns bats that use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years. This is where the bats hang out in winter Hi Everyone! I am very sad. The bats that spend their winter vacation at my house have left. One night this week, I went to see if they were in their roost, or if they had already left for their nightly feast.  I looked at the roost and they weren’t there so I thought that they had gone to eat. I was in for a rude awakening. When I went to say “hi” in the morning, they weren’t there.  The bats have left me! ^.-.^ /|\/|\ ^^ (But, the bats left to establish their summer maternity roost, which is a good thing. They will have their pups and be batty all summer. We’re glad to know Rachael will welcome them back in winter and keep them safe from harm. –Ed.)

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 6th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big browns bats that use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years. Hello Everyone! Since it was very nice weather last weekend, a lot of the rehabilitated bats were released back into the wild. A hoary bat, two silver haired bats and six big brown bats were released. I hope they are happy and have been able to find some new friends out there. We had a lot of rain on Wednesday, so hopefully they were all ok. I am very happy to report that little “Paint Can” was one of the bats released. Remember him? He is happily flying free.  ^.-.^ /|\   /|\ ^^ Here are some cute pictures of some bats that were released. Paint Can, a bat that had been put into a can with wet paint still in it, on left and his new friend just before release. Photo by S. Craig