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 good week. Last weekend the Save Lucy headquarters moved. It was a sad day for Northern Virginia. It was going to be a very sad day for me, too. The most awesome mentor that I could ever have hoped for moved away. Plus, my furry friends were moving. There was a good-bye party, which I thought was going to be sad, but ended up being pretty fun. Mrs. Sturges, the president of Save Lucy and my amazing mentor and friend gave me the best gift ever! She gave me a cute bat jacket! I LOVE IT! It has little ears that are fuzzy around the edges, and the edge of the hood is fuzzy too. It has really great wings that are stitched like the bones in a bat wing. And, it looks absolutely amazing on me! I have worn it a lot this week and I’m planning on wearing it a whole lot more. I’ll show you all some of the places I take it, so you can have fun along with me. The first place I wore my jacket was to the Special Olympics. All my bowling friends loved it, too! I had a lot of fun talking with all my friends about bats. I think they had fun too. One of my best bowling buddies let me take a picture of her with me in my jacket, so you could see how much fun we were having. I would like […]
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 good week. A lot of things happened in the world this week. There were earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador, HM Queen Elizabeth had her 90th birthday and a singer named Prince passed away. I would like to dedicate my blog to all these people, especially the people affected by the earthquakes. I think that maybe their weeks weren’t quite as good as mine was. I thought it would be nice to research a bat from Ecuador. There were a lot to choose from. They have some bats that are very different from the ones we have here in Virginia. One of my favorites is the Pale spear-nosed bat. The pale spear-nosed bat is really cute! They are between 8 and 11 centimeters with an average wingspan of 42 centimeters. Their wings have rounded tips and they have broad faces with short snouts. They have a little leaf like nose that is broad with a spear-like projection. They have really adorable ears that are long enough to reach the tip of their nose. Their fur color ranges from pale yellowish brown to almost black. Their chest and stomach are much paler and can be almost white to gray. These bats don’t only live in Ecuador. They live from southern Mexico to northern Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and across southeastern Brazil. They like to roost in hollow trees or in the mouths of caves. They eat plants and insets, and most of their diet consists of […]
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 good week. It is a very exciting time here at Save Lucy. This is because tomorrow is National Bat Appreciation Day! National Bat Appreciation Day is celebrated every year on April 17th because it is around this time that hibernating bats are beginning to emerge from hibernation. That makes this the best time of year to observe bats. It is also a great time to learn all about bats and how wonderful they are. Another wonderful thing happening next week is Earth Day! Earth Day is going to be celebrated April 22. There will be events all around the world to support environmental awareness and protection. Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 and is now celebrated in more than 193 countries around the world. Obviously it’s a great week to be a bat. And all the little bats at Save Lucy are very excited. I hope that some of you will be able to go to some of the fun Bat Appreciation and Earth Day events scheduled. It should be a lot of fun!
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 good week! I read an awesome article that I just have to share with you! Obviously, it’s about bats, but it’s also good news about bats and white-nose syndrome. Researchers have discovered that the winter populations of some hibernating bats have stabilized. These bats live in the same areas that white-nose syndrome first appeared years ago! They haven’t figured out how or why these bats are surviving, and there are still a lot fewer bats now than there were, but the fact that more aren’t dying in upstate New York is very good news. Scientists think that bats might be able to adapt to the fungus. This is obviously very important, because if they can adapt, they might be able to survive. They discovered that the surviving bats are waking up less during hibernation, so now they have a better chance of storing enough energy to survive the winter. Since white-nose syndrome is still spreading across North America, hibernating bats are still in a lot of trouble. Last week, WNS was found in Washington state. That was horrible news because now WNS is a coast-to-coast disease. It has been found in 28 states and 5 Canadian provinces. I think it’s really sad that Fairfax County, VA doesn’t have any little brown bats anymore. That means that kids like me will never get to see one. I hope that the little brown bats in New York will make a comeback. If they can do […]
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 good week! I had a fun time pranking everyone on April Fool’s day. It was fun! My favorite one was when I replaced my dad’s water with salt water. For some reason, he didn’t like the taste. I don’t know if you all remember little Brownie the Bat. He wants to tell you all about his April Fool’s day. Hi, Brownie here! I had a fun April Fool’s day! I pulled all sorts of pranks on my family and friends. My favorite was the first one of the evening. While my friends and I were flying to school, I shouted “HUMAN!” as loudly as I could and all of my friends swerved and ducked into hiding. It was hysterical! They really thought a human was after them. Not much happened during class at school. My teacher made it very clear that she didn’t want us playing pranks during class. When I got to lunch, I found out that my mom had packed the yuckiest lunch I could imagine! She gave me a bag of chocolate chips instead of beetles for dessert!!! I was very sad until I found the other bag that actually had beetles. I had a really fun day! -Brownie the Bat I think little Brownie had a little bit too much fun with that “HUMAN” prank. Don’t you? How was your April Fool’s Day? Did you all have fun pulling pranks? Did anyone pull one on you?
After three years, we’ve come to the sad realization that Lucy’s Club is not working. Only a tiny handful of users contributed through the club, and almost no one took advantage of the points system. So we’ve decided to rejigger things a bit. We are eliminating the points system, but we still want everyone to get involved in bat conservation. Our list of things to do will stay up, and we encourage you to share your actions with us. We’ll remain a platform for you to share your conservation actions, and we’ll start issuing monthly Conservation Challenges for fun. We welcome your feedback on how you’d like to interact with us and how to best showcase your amazing actions!
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’m Baaack! I’m here with a bonus edition of the Baturday News! This news just could not wait another week, so I hope you all don’t mind. The latest animated bat video has been released! This one is called Om Nom Nom and it is a real thriller! The star of the show is a heroic bat named Milo. The video begins with a terrifying scene that reminds the viewer of a horror movie. We watch as a garden is invaded by a swarm of terrifying insects. The most amazing theatrical performance that could ever be done by produce is accomplished by an ear of corn. We watch as Ms. Corn is viciously attacked by marauding insects. Luckily, before all hope is lost, a young bat named Milo flies in to save the day. Little Milo does what bats do best and gobbles up all the invading insects. This movie shows the viewer how important bats are to a garden. Through his heroic acts and his amusingly barbaric burp, little Milo shows that bats really are not scary at all. There is no doubt in this movie reviewer’s mind that little Milo will be nominated for an Emmy or an Oscar after this performance. I believe “Best Supporting Actress” could definitely go to Ms. Corn. So, without further ado, please watch the latest video, Om Nom Nom. Little Milo and the various produce would like to thank the volunteers of Save Lucy for their hard work and dedication to […]
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. Today’s blog is dedicated to the people of Brussels, Belgium. I hope the injured recover quickly and that the people who lost loved ones find peace. I would also like to say “hello” to my family there. Although I haven’t met you, I was worried about you and I am very glad that you are all OK. Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. Since it is Easter season, I had been planning on writing about a cute little long eared bat. It wouldn’t be a bunny, but it would be the closest that a bat could get to one. After hearing the news about what happened in Brussels, I thought I would find a long eared bat that lives in Belgium. I got very lucky! There is an adorable little bat that lives in most of Europe, including Belgium. It is the Brown Long-Eared Bat and it is really cute. The brown long-eared bat has really big ears. Its ears are almost as long as its body! When the bat is flying, it holds its ears upright. When the bat is resting the ears curl back to look like a ram’s horns, or they get tucked under the bat’s wings. Brown long-eared bats have long gray-brown fur. They have a wingspan of 23-28 cm and weigh 6-12 g. They usually live 4-5 years. Brown long-eared bats like to eat yummy moths, beetles, flies, caddis flies, beetles and earwigs. These bats fly slowly compared to other bats and […]
You can download our animated shorts from our Vimeo channel. They are available for you to use in your own educational efforts, to amuse your friends, and to promote bats and bat conservation. Keep spreading the word–Bats Aren’t Scary!
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 good week! Before I tell you the most exciting news I’ve been able to share with you for weeks, I would like to remind everyone that tonight from 8:30-9:30 is Earth Hour. Please turn off all non-essential electric devices and lights for this hour in support of WWFs effort to save the planet. Remember, we all have to do our part to save the Earth. It’s the only planet with CANDY!!! AND BATS!!! Now for the news… I am very excited because the next animated bat video has been released! This one is called Settle Down and it is absolutely, amazingly adorable! This video has a much larger cast than the last video. Here we meet an entire colony of bats, although not all of them have starring roles. Most of the colony plays the part of sleeping bats. There is also Mom, Auntie Grumpus, a bat pup named Nick and another pup. The pups in this film do an amazing job, despite their young age. They play the parts of little bats who don’t particularly want to go to sleep. While goofing around, they lose their grip on the wooden beam they are hanging from and begin to fall. I would like to mention that they do this without the help of stunt doubles! They do all their own work and make it look so real! This soon to be award winning movie teaches the viewer a valuable lesson. Not only do […]