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 fun week! As I told everyone last week, Bat Fest Arlington was on Saturday (aka Baturday). It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed meeting some of you. Three of Save Lucy’s bats were there. It was nice to see Mooch again. He performed quite nicely for the crowd and squeaked a lot, which made everyone very happy. Little Freda wasn’t quite as happy to see her admirers. She did not want to eat or drink, but she did show off her lovely tail for her audience. There was also a really pretty red bat named Poppy. In addition to Save Lucy’s live bat talk, there was a Bat Art Gallery on display. I really enjoyed seeing all the pretty artwork. My favorite was the little felt Tinybat and Tinybat’s picture. I still miss him, so it’s always nice to see it. There were a lot of really pretty paintings of bats and some pottery bat bowls. There were a lot of batty activities outside and a batwalk, too. I hope to see some more of you at Bat Fest in Annandale next month. It’s on Saturday, September 12! You can register here I’d also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to stay away from wild animals, even if they are adorable and cute and fluffy. I saw a family of fox kits last night (I know…they weren’t bats, but they were still cute). They were crossing the street […]
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 everyone had a great week and is enjoying the last few weeks of summer. I would like to dedicate this week’s blog to Mr. Lenny B. Robinson, aka The Route 29 Batman. For years, Mr. Robinson dressed up as Batman and drove around town in his custom Batmobile car. He visited sick children in local hospitals to cheer them up and offer them a little bit of distraction from being sick. Sadly, Mr. Robinson passed away last weekend. I know many children are very sad right now. I am very happy to announce that tonight (Baturday, August 22), there will be a Bat Festival in Arlington, VA. It is going to be at Gulf Branch Nature Center and Park at 3608 North Military Rd. Mrs. Sturges (Save Lucy’s very own Director and my personal friend and editor J) will be teaching about bats and introducing the audience to some of my favorite little furry friends. There are 4 talks that will be given from 6:30-9:30. Please join us for the fun filled batty adventure that best fits your age group. You can find more information here: http://parks.arlingtonva.us/events/bat-festival/. Hope to see you there! And for those of you whose summer is over and are going back to school on Monday…good luck! I hope you like your classes and don’t forget that bats make wonderful science fair subjects…think bat houses, the importance of bats, finding a cure for WNS, etc. And if you are the one who finds a […]
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 nice week and are enjoying the last few weeks of summer vacation. I know you all are going to think it’s too soon to start thinking about Halloween, but if you want to be crafty, you have to start thinking about it now. Halloween is only a couple months away and that means it’s time to start making bat decorations. Personally, I was thinking of decorating the entire house in a lovely bat theme. What I’d really like is a wreath on the door with a bunch of bats hanging in it. I’ve seen a lot of ghosty and pumpkiny wreaths, but no bats ones! So, it’s time to start making some bats. Then, I’ll have to put together a wreath. This is what I’ve found so far… I found this really cute crochet pattern online. It’s a free pattern and I think the bat is adorable. There are pictures of it in different colors to help you come up with ideas. I think it would be perfect hanging on a wreath on my front door. And maybe a few of them should be in my window. And maybe a few more around the house. The only problem is that I don’t know how to crochet. It’s quite a dilemma I’ve found myself in. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to successfully become an expert crocheter in time to make these. Maybe I should try something a little less ambitious, but I’d […]
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’m still patiently waiting to hear from Ms. Ellen DeGeneres. I’m sure she’ll just love the pictures of little Freda! I hope she likes bats! I saw an article in The Washington Post newspaper this Monday. I’m sure a lot of you already saw it, but just in case you didn’t, I’ll tell you all about it. It was about a bat study they did in Fairfax County. I had high hopes for this study, but sadly, it was bad news in the end. METRO (a subway system in the DC area) wants to build a new train line. Before they can start building, they need to make sure there aren’t any endangered or threatened animals that will be bothered by the construction. They hired some bat scientists to look for northern long-eared bats. The scientists spent 7 nights looking for the bats. By the end of the week, they had found and released 61 bats, two squirrels and some really big moths. I was really hoping that at least 1 of those 61 bats was a northern long-eared bat, but none of them were. I know that people want the train line to go through, but I want the bats to still be around. I was sad to know that they didn’t find any. It’s really sad that we don’t have any more little brown bats in Fairfax County. I really hope we don’t lose the northern long-eared bats too! […]
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 everyone had a nice week. Freda is still a little sad. And a sad little bat is a sad sight indeed. She is jealous of the little Australian bat that is being sponsored by Johnny Depp. She doesn’t understand why no one is sponsoring her. So, on her behalf, I have decided to try one more time. I think I have found the perfect prospective sponsor this time. Ellen DeGeneres! Ms. DeGeneres is a very funny comedian who loves animals. She already works with animal charities. Now, she just needs to know about us! Freda is hopeful that Ms. DeGeneres will just love her as soon as she sees her picture. In an attempt to make her even more attractive to a famous comedian, Freda decided she should write another poem. I hope she was trying to be a funny bat because if she was being serious…well, you’ll see… If I Had A Sponsor By Freda the Bat If I had a sponsor, She’d know I’m not a monster. She’d like bats. And maybe buy me hats! I’d share my mealworms. I’m sure she’d like their squirms. Mealworms are crunchy. They are fun to munchy. Yes, they are wormy. They are very squirmy. They are very tasty, Even though their insides are pasty. Do you think she’d like them? Or would she rather have an M & M? I hope she likes me! I’m much cuter than a bee!!!
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 am so happy! There is some kind of good news in WNS research. It’s too early to get too excited, but it looks good to me. There is a microbe called Candida albicans that might help fight against white-nose syndrome. Candida albicans lives in many species. It even lives in the intestines of humans. Anyway, scientists from the University of Illinois have discovered that a compound produced by C. albicans called tt-farnesol can inhibit the fungus that causes WNS. One of the scientists said that inoculating hibernating bats with the microbes might increase the bats’ chances of surviving. I think that’s awesome news! Another good piece of news in the fight against WNS is that a common bacterium might also help fight the disease. The bacterium is called Rhodococcus rhodochrous and it’s found in the soil all over North America. Scientists have also discovered that some of the drugs used to fight HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C might also help bats. With all these new discoveries, it’s hard not to get excited. I hope that at least one of these things actually really works. You can read about the studies here: http://news.discovery.com/animals/cave-microbe-may-aid-bats-in-white-nose-syndrome-fight-150722.htm and http://news.discovery.com/animals/common-bacterium-cures-bats-white-nose-syndrome-150515.htm
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! First, I would like to thank those of you who tried your best to get a celebrity sponsor for little Freda. She really appreciates all your help. I must say, I’m disappointed. I was led to believe that there were only 6 degrees of separation between Kevin Bacon and everyone else on the planet. That means that there must be some way for us to get in touch with him! And if we can get in touch with him, we should be able to get in touch with all kinds of celebrities! Surely, one of them wants to help a little bat! So, little Freda is asking for everyone’s help again…Please try to figure out what your 6 degrees of separation are (I have yet to figure out mine, but I’m working on it). If just one of us succeeds, either Mr. Bacon, Mr. Affleck, or any of the other wonderful animal loving celebrities is sure to help us. Now, on to other pressing matters…tomorrow is National Ice Cream Day! The bats are very excited because they are positive they’ll get some yummy, bat appropriate ice cream. They have even taken the liberty of using some of Cold Stone Creamery’s flavor ideas to invent some batty flavors. Here is what they have so far: The Fly Who Loved Me – Ingredients: Mothy Ice Cream with Grub Cookies, Ground Mealworm Crust and Fly Paste Topping All Crunchin’ No Munchin’ – Ingredients: Mealworm Batter Ice Cream with Mosquito Dough, Whipped Moth […]
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 sure you have all seen the picture of the adorable Australian Fruit Bat named Jackie Sparrow who is in care at the Australian Bat Clinic. She is being sponsored by the actor Johnny Depp, who plays the character Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Fruit bats are adorable and I think a lot of people like them. They’re much bigger than our insect eating bats and are really cute. Even when they’re babies, they are big enough to wrap in blankets like burritos and have their pictures taken for all to see. I think it’s great that they have so many fans, but I think we need to do something about the image problem our little insect eating bats have. So, I have a BRILLIANT idea! I know it’s brilliant because all of my ideas are. I think we need to get an actor to sponsor one of our bats. Personally, I think Freda needs a sponsor because she will never be released and she’s young and different and cute. But, Save Lucy has a lot of lovely bats to choose from. I think the logical choice in actors is Ben Affleck. He is the actor who plays Batman in the movie Batman v Superman. He has already appeared in an Organization for Bat Conservation video. Clearly, he likes bats! Maybe he just hasn’t heard of us yet. Now, for the important part of my plan…someone out there needs to tell Mr. Affleck all about […]
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! Happy 4th of July! I am very happy to report that all of the baby bats here at Save Lucy are doing very well. They have all been gaining weight nicely. I saw a really cute video of one of them learning how to eat mealworms. For those of you who don’t follow Save Lucy on Facebook, here is the video. The little pup is adorable! I love how it sits up to eat and smack its lips. It looks very happy, don’t you think? I hope everyone enjoys their 4th of July celebrations today. The bats are looking forward to seeing all the fireworks. The bats all have wonderful perches in the trees so that they can see all the fireworks from a nice safe distance. Please remember to follow their example and don’t get too close to the fireworks. Also, please remember all our little friends who live in the trees and don’t set your personal fireworks off too close to the trees. We don’t want to scare any of the critters and we definitely don’t want to burn down their homes! The bats and all the other critters thank you for your consideration. Last, but definitely not least, the bats would like to thank everyone for their support in getting more attention directed their way than the sharks. The sharks have been working awfully hard at keeping everyone’s attention, but the bats know that deep down in everyone’s heart, they are loved more than sharks. Now, […]
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 know you have seen all the shark stories in the news lately. Sharks are biting people at the beaches. Personally, I have decided to stay away from the beach this summer. The bats have other plans. They are a little upset because of all the attention sharks are getting. I think they are jealous. Last night, I heard all of them talking about going to the ocean. They want to swim around and look scary so everyone will pay more attention to them. Poor little things. Have you seen them? Even when they show their teeth, they don’t look too scary. I heard one of them coming up with a plan to solve that little problem. She is planning to get tangled up in a lifeguard’s hair! I think that should get them in the news. I did my best to talk them out of it, but if you’re going to the beach, don’t forget to look up. And lifeguards beware! Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Of course, we could solve the problem easily if more people would just pay attention to our little furry friends. Maybe say “hi” to them if you see them flying around. Maybe the Discovery Channel could have “BAT WEEK” instead of “Shark Week”…just a thought. Instead of a shark fin being part of the “A”, a lovely bat wing could be included. In other news, I saw some more bats flying outside my house! I was out yesterday evening and they […]