Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! Mine was awesome because, once again, I did not have a full week of school. That’s right! Friday was a “Teacher Work Day”, so I got to stay home. Monday is another one, so next week will be a 4 day week as well. Sometimes my life is amazing! I found an article about a bat sanctuary in Mexico. Since it was in a Mexican magazine, it was written in Spanish. I do not speak Spanish. Like, really…barely a word. So, before I begin, I would like to thank Google Translate. And now for the wonderful news that I discovered in this article! I am very happy to announce that The National Commission of Protected Natural Areas, a corporation in Mexico, is trying to create the first bat sanctuary in Mexico! The sanctuary is a wonderful idea in my opinion, and will be mainly for millions of Mexican Free-tailed bats. I don’t know if you all remember, but a few years ago, the Save Lucy Campaign had a surprise bat guest, Freda. Freda was one of the sweetest and sassiest Free-Tailed bats I have ever met. Of course, I’ve only met two, but I digress. I hope that this sanctuary will be able to help many bats like Freda. Scientists are still searching for the best place for the sanctuary. They have managed to find seven ideal bat caves throughout the country. One of these caves, the Cueva de la Boca is already a beautiful summer home for a maternity colony of approximately five million Mexican Free-tailed bats. The Cueva de la Boca, used to be home to one of the largest Mexican Free-Tailed colonies in all of Mexico! After vandals found the cave, the population decreased. Hopefully, with a […]
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I had a great one because it started with a holiday. I hope everyone had a happy Martin Luther King, Jr Day. I am very excited because something very special happened recently in the bat world! Scientists have discovered two new dog-faced bat species!!! That’s right! For over 50 years, scientists thought that there were only six species of dog-faced bats. After studying bats found in Panama and Ecuador, they discovered that there were actually eight different species. The two new species are called the Freeman’s dog-faced bat and the Waorani dog-faced bat. And they are adorable! Dog-faced bats are extremely tricky to capture, seeing as they fly faster than a lot of other bats. Using mist nets, researchers were able to catch 56 Freeman’s dog-faced bats. They didn’t know until later that they had a new species! It’s also tricky to get echolocation recordings of these bats, but the scientists managed to get some. Sadly, they were not able to get recordings of the Waorani dog-faced bat. It was also a bit harder to get catch one of these bats. Their discovery of this bat was based off of physical examinations and comparing the DNA of these bats to the DNA of some of the bats they already had. If you want to read more about these amazing bats, you can read about them here .
Hello everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I had a great one. The reason it was so awesome was because I had a “snow day” on Monday. That’s right, they cancelled school for the day because there was a possibility of freezing rain! I got to sleep in and watch TV. ? And do you know what makes that snow day even better? Thanks to that day, I will not need to go to school for an entire 5 day week at all in January!!! That’s right. There are “teacher work days” scheduled for the end of the month. Personally, I believe I could get used to this sort of thing. And now for the bat news…It is not good news. If fact, it is very sad news. As you all know, Australia is experiencing summer while we are experiencing winter. On the 7th, a very bad heatwave hit south eastern Australia. This is causing a lot of the flying-foxes to die of extreme heat exposure. The temperatures in Australia have hit record highs of 42-43 degrees C. For those of us in the US, that translates to 107-109 degrees F. In Sydney, the temperature got as high as 45 degrees C (113 degrees F). The poor bats can’t handle that kind of heat combined with the high humidity. As soon as they noticed the bats dying, volunteers began monitoring the bat colonies in Campbelltown, Parramatta Park, Yarramuni, South Creek, and Emu Plains. Bats were dying by the hundreds and volunteers raced to help those who could be saved. Volunteers rushed more than 40 young flying-foxes into critical care. Sadly, they were unable to save them all. Another day, volunteers braved the heat to save hundreds of little pups who have been rehydrated and reunited with their […]
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week and a very Merry Christmas! I had an awesome Christmas and I got some really cool presents. I even got a brand new Save Lucy t-shirt! Since this will be my last blog post of the year, I thought it would be nice to look back at everything that happened in 2017. I know a lot of bad things happened in 2017. White Nose Syndrome continued to spread, sadly with no end in sight. There were hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires. More than half of Puerto Rico is still without power. Honestly, it’s been a rough year for a lot of people and a lot of critters. That said, some good things happened too. So, let’s focus on the good… On January 24, Fiona the Hippo was born at the Cincinnati Zoo. She soon became an international internet sensation bringing joy to millions of people around the world. She is absolutely adorable! A 12 year old Romanian boy risked his life to save the life of a toddler who had become trapped in a pipe. There was a total solar eclipse seen throughout North America on August 21. There won’t be another seen on the continent until 2024. And in bat news, a new bat was discovered roosting in East Devon. The grey long-eared bat is rare to the UK. There are only about 3,000 of them, so this discovery was great news! More good news came out of Europe in 2017. Thanks to Europe’s strict laws protecting bats, it was found that European bats are making a comeback. Many bat populations on the continent have increased by 43% since 1993. And last but not least, Northern Long-Eared bats were found on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts and coastal South Carolina. […]
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I am excited because it is almost Christmas!!! I love Christmas! I have been eating so many Christmas cookies that we need to make more to give to our neighbors! I learned an interesting Christmas fact the other day. In Australia, Santa’s sleigh isn’t pulled by reindeer. It’s pulled by kangaroos! I think it’s totally awesome of the kangaroos to give the reindeer a break for a little while. I’m sure that after flying around so much of the world, they are tired and appreciate the help of those kangaroos. Since the kangaroos are so helpful, I thought I’d look up some bats from Australia. You know I just love the little bat burritos down in Australia, but I found another adorable bat to talk about this week. It’s called the Chocolate Wattled Bat. It has chocolate brown fur on its back, and light brown fur on its stomach. It has a lobe on its lower lip that looks a little like a wattle. This bat also has the most adorable little nose. Its nose looks a lot like a pug dog’s nose! I have a pug dog, so I really like this bat’s nose. ? Chocolate Wattled bats eat a lot of insects. They really like chewing on moths. These cute little creatures live in the southern parts of Australia and in Tasmania. They are very common in Victoria, Australia. They live in forests, woodlands, and in farm areas. These bats also like to roost in tree hollows and in buildings. Their colonies are made up of 10 to 20 bats. If you would like to learn more about these adorable little Australian bats, you can find information here. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I am now officially on winter break and I plan on enjoying myself immensely. I hope everyone else is able to enjoy their vacations and that you all have a wonderful holiday season. I read an article about researchers who are trying to find the origin of White Nose Syndrome. Scientists at Northern Arizona University and the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center used genomic sequencing to figure out where the fungus that causes the disease originally came from and how it is spreading. Up until now, there has been much speculation that the fungus originated somewhere in Europe or Asia. The scientists wanted to know its true origin, and hopefully gain some insight on how to stop it. By analyzing the genome of the fungus in samples from Europe, Asia, and North America, they found that there was a big difference between the fungus found on North America and the one in Europe and Asia. They discovered that there was a lot of diversity between the samples found in Europe and Asia, but almost none in North America. This helps prove the theory that the fungus was recently introduced to North America, and has been in Eurasia for much longer. One interesting fact is that the Eurasian bats have adapted and developed a resistance to the disease. This gives scientists hope that bats in the United States and Canada may be able to do the same. If you would like to read the article, you can find it here.
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I’m excited because it is almost Winter Break. There is only one more week before I get a two-week vacation. I can’t wait! A lot has been going on in the news this week. One thing makes me sad. There are a lot of wildfires in California again. I would like to dedicate this week’s blog to all the people and animals affected by these fires. I researched some bats from California and found a really cute one – the pocketed free-tailed bat! This adorable little bat lives in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and in Mexico. They look similar to the Brazilian free-tailed bat, but they have one major difference. These little guys have built in pockets! How cool is that? They have a fold of skin that stretches from the middle of the femur to the middle of the tibia. This fold makes a little pocket on the underside near their knee. The pocketed free-tailed bat eats insects. They like to roost in caves, crevices, mines, tunnels, and man-made structures. Unlike the Brazilian free-tailed bat, the pocket free-tailed bats don’t live in large colonies. Their colonies are usually fewer than 100 bats. If you would like to read more about the pocketed free-tailed bat, you can find information here. I would like to wish everyone who celebrates Hanukah a very happy holiday!
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! Mine was pretty good. I had to do a one-minute speech in my government class. We were supposed to act like we were talking to Congress and were trying to persuade them to fund our project. Well, of course, my speech was to ask Congress for more funding to find a cure for White Nose Syndrome. I got an A!!! And now for the truly exciting news! A new Bats Aren’t Scary video was released on Friday. This one is titled “A Change of Heart” and stars a handsome little bat named Delbert. It also stars a human named Shelly. Shelly meets little Delbert and is scared. Thanks to some absolutely amazing acting by little Delbert, Shelly has a change of heart and decides that maybe bats aren’t scary at all. I don’t want to ruin it for you. You need to watch the video yourself. But I will tell you that Shelly not only changes her mind about bats, but she also educates others about how awesome bats are. I really do believe that little Delbert could win some awards for this performance. I mean, really, there is a little bit of everything in this film. There is his graceful flying, his expressive scream of fright, and the last scene…amazing! And while I am discussing the acting in this video, let’s discuss Shelly. For a human, she does a wonderful job. She might be a contender for Best Supporting Actress! And now, without further ado, please watch the video for yourself. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. If you would like to watch it over and over again, you can find it here and here. All the Bats Aren’t Scary videos are free for anyone to use–just […]
Hi everyone! I hope you had a good week and a happy Thanksgiving! I had a nice quiet holiday with lots and lots of food. Since Thanksgiving is supposed to commemorate a treaty signed between the Wampanoag people and the English settlers, and Friday was Native American Heritage Day, I would like to dedicate this blog to all the Indigenous People of the Americas. Native American Heritage Day is a day that recognizes all the contributions Native Americans have made as well as their heritage and history. I thought it would be nice to research some Native American stories about bats. I couldn’t find any Wampanoag stories, but I did find a nice Ojibwe one. This story describes how bat came to be. It starts with the sun getting stuck in the branches of a tall tree. A little squirrel saw him and desperately tried to save him. The little squirrel got badly burned, his skin got stretched, and the bright sunlight blinded him. Despite his injuries, the little squirrel kept trying and eventually saved the sun. As a reward for the little squirrel’s heroism, the sun helped the little squirrel. He stopped the squirrel’s pain and gave him the ability to fly. Little squirrel became the first little brown bat. The Ojibwe people tell the story much better than I do, so if you would like to read it, you can find it here. I hope you all have a great week.