Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I was at the Bat Bonanza at the US Botanic Gardens last weekend. It was so much fun! There were three of Save Lucy’s bats there doing their part to teach people about how wonderful and amazing bats are. Recent events sent me on a quest to find bat news from Pittsburgh, PA. While there are wonderful bat projects going on in Pennsylvania, this project caught my eye, even if it’s from a different PSU! College students at Pennsylvania State University, KS, have been studying their local bats. The biology students and their professor have been monitoring a bat colony since last spring. The students have been catching bats and documenting weight, size, and length to help them determine what bat species they are looking at. They are also checking to see if any of the bats have been infected with the fungus that causes White Nose Syndrome. They are trying to collect data about federally endangered bat species to help future scientists in their research. The students set up video cameras outside of a bat roost and recorded bats entering and exiting the roost. They then slow the video down to see how many bats enter and exit while bats are feeding. The students also measured the temperature of the roost to study whether or not bats choose where they roost based on temperature. If you would like to read more about their research you may find the article here.
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I had an amazing week because Bat Week began on Wednesday. Bat Week is an entire week dedicated to our furry little friends. In honor of Bat Week, I read some stories starring bats. People all over the world have stories, myths, and fables featuring bats as main characters. I read one fable by Aesop about a very smart little bat. All of Aesop’s fables have a moral or lesson to be learned. Obviously, Aesop knew bats were very intelligent creatures because he is the smart one in this story. I was going to paraphrase the story, but since I can’t tell a story as well as Mr. Aesop could, here is the story as he wrote it… Aesop’s Fable – The Cage Bird and the Bat “A singing bird was confined in a cage which hung outside a window, and had a way of singing at night when all other birds were asleep. One night a Bat came and clung to the bars of the cage, and asked the Bird why she was silent by day and sang only at night. ‘I have a very good reason for doing so,’ said the Bird. ‘It was once when I was singing in the daytime that a fowler was attracted by my voice, and set his nets for me and caught me. Since then I have never sung except by night.’ But the Bat replied, ‘It is no use your doing that now when you are a prisoner: If only you had done so before you were caught, you might still have been free.’” The moral of the story is that “Precautions are useless after the crisis.” Isn’t he a smart little bat? And now for a very special reminder. Today […]
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I had a rough ending to my week because I sprained my ankle very badly. I was viciously attacked by a tree root and my ankle did not appreciate it. Even though I am wounded, I think I had a better week than a lot of people in the southeastern part of the country. Hurricane Michael tore through the area last week and people there are still suffering. This week, I researched another Florida bat and I think I found a cute one. The Southeastern Myotis is adorable! It looks a lot like Little Brown Bats. They have gray-brown to orange-brown fur and are lighter on their stomachs. Their fur, however, is shorter, and thicker, than that of the Little Brown Bat. Southeastern Myotis live in many other places than Florida. They also live in Southern Illinois and Indiana, Oklahoma, western Tennessee, Arkansas, Northeastern Texas, the southern part of North Carolina, the Ohio River Valley of Kentucky, and coastal regions northward into Virginia. The Southeastern Myotis likes to roost in caves, hollow trees, buildings, and bridges. They eat insects, such as mosquitoes, flies, small beetles, and moths. If you would like to read more about the Southeastern Myotis bat, you can find information here. Also, I would like to remind everyone of the big batty event at the US Botanic Gardens in Washington, DC next weekend. The Bat Bonanza Event will be Saturday, October 27 and will begin at 10 AM. This is always a very fun event full of all kinds of batty fun. I plan on being there and, best of all, Mrs. Sturges, Save Lucy’s President, will be there with some live bats. If you are in the DC area, I hope you’ll stop by.
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. Mine was fun because I have a friend visiting, so I’ve been doing a lot of sightseeing. There was a hurricane in the southeastern United States this week. The state of Florida was hit very hard. This week’s blog is dedicated to everyone affected by Hurricane Michael, not only in Florida, but also in Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Virginia. I did a little bit of research and discovered that Florida’s largest bat is the Florida bonneted bat. I wrote about this bat a couple of years ago, but I thought it was worth refreshing everyone’s memories on this adorable bat. This bat is listed as endangered by the USFWS and is believed to be the rarest bat in the world. The Florida bonneted bat is large with a long tail membrane. It can be 6.5 inches long with a wingspan of 20 inches. Its ears join at the base. The bats’ fur is black, brown, gray, or cinnamon brown. Not much is known about this bat because it is so rare. They only live in a few counties in south Florida and only a few nursery roosts have been found. Loss of habitat is the Florida bonneted bats’ greatest threat. Habitat loss for this species comes in the form of human destruction of its roosting sites as well as natural disasters such as hurricanes. If you would like to read more about the Florida bonneted bat, you can find information here. In other batty news, there will be a bat event at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, VA tonight at 7:00 PM. I am going to try to make it. Mrs. Sturges will definitely be there with some of our bat friends. If you are in the […]
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! Things went from bad to worse in Indonesia this week. After having both an earthquake and a tsunami last week, a total of three volcanoes erupted this week. These volcanoes are spewing ash into the sky, which makes it difficult to breathe. Once again, I would like to dedicate my blog to the people of Indonesia. I hope things improve for you all very soon. Our esteemed leader, Mrs. Sturges, suggested that I write about the Sulawesi flying fox. The Sulawesi flying fox lives on the islands of Sulawesi and Buton. Sulawesi is the island where there was the earthquake and tsunami. This adorable flying fox has yellow-orange fur and long noses that are perfect for munching on fruit and sucking up pollen. They have big eyes compared to microbats. Sulawesi flying foxes like to eat coconuts, breadfruits, and their favorite, pollen from eucalyptus blossoms. Like a lot of other megabats, Sulawesi flying foxes roost in trees. They are often found hanging in mangrove forests. These bats will sometimes share the trees that they are roosting in with black flying foxes. It works out perfectly for the bats because black flying foxes prefer lower branches and Sulawesi flying foxes like to be up high. Sadly, these bats are listed as vulnerable because of hunting. A lot of Sulawesi roosting trees are being cut down which leaves them unprotected. Sulawesi flying foxes are completely extinct in North Sulawesi because of the hunters. If you would like to read more about the Sulawesi flying fox, you can find information here. I would like to remind everyone that there is another batty event on Saturday, October 13 at 7:00 PM. This event will be at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, VA. Mrs. Sturges […]
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. My week had a sad start because the Nature Fest in Herndon was cancelled because of the rain. It rained pretty much all week, but I think we are supposed to have a sunny weekend. There was another earthquake in Indonesia on Friday. And then after the earthquake there was a tsunami. I would like to dedicate this week’s blog to the people of Indonesia. My thoughts are with you all while you recover from these events. I researched Indonesian bats and I found an absolutely adorable one! It is called the Black-bearded tomb bat. They have a face that reminds me of a shrew with a beard. Its face points outward and they have big round ears on top of their head. Their fur is brown with a little bit of gray and sometimes even red. The dense fur covers most of their body, but it stops before it covers their face. I think this makes their fur look slightly mane-like. The male Black-bearded tomb bats have seasonal black-ish brown beards that they grow to attract mates. Black-bearded tomb bats are found in a variety of places including Indonesia, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand. They roost in rainforests, woodlands, and abandoned buildings. They roost near where they can find their favorite foods. They eat insects like many other bats, but they also enjoy munching on fruit. If you would like to learn more about these bats, you can find information here and here.
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I was looking up interesting bats from around the world and found a really adorable one called the Rousettus Bat. Rousettus bats are also more commonly known as Egyptian Fruit Bats. These bats have orange-yellow fur around their necks that match nicely with the dark brown and gray fur along their backs and stomachs. Rousettus bats are found in the tropical rainforests, savanna, and tropical deciduous forests in Africa. They are also found in scrub forests of Mediterranean Turkey. Egyptian Fruit bats eat a lot of fruit each night. They like to eat soft, pulpy fruit, especially wild dates. They also eat unripe fruit and fruit damaged by insects or fungus. Because they eat this fruit, they are able to survive when ripe fruit is not available. If you would like to read more about the Rousettus bat, you can find information here. And now for the exciting news! Herndon Nature Fest is tomorrow afternoon from 1 – 5 PM. It is being held at Runnymede Park, 195 Herndon Pkwy in Herndon, VA. Save Lucy’s President, Mrs. Sturges, will be there with some bats and I will be there too! If you are in the area, I hope to see you there. Have a good week!
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. Mine was pretty good. People in the Carolinas are having a really hard time though. Hurricane Florence made landfall yesterday and is causing a disaster in North and South Carolina. This week’s blog is dedicated to the people of North and South Carolina. I hope they are able to stay safe during the storm and are able to return to their homes soon. I researched a bat that lives in the Carolinas. It is an adorable bat species called the Seminole bat. The bats are found in a wide range. They live in the forested regions of eastern Texas, north to southeastern Oklahoma, central Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and into south-central Virginia. And, if you’ll remember, there were a few Seminole bats found in Northern Virginia not too long ago. These furry little critters have an interesting place that they like to roost. They roost in Spanish moss! They also like loose tree bark that they can squeeze under. A lot of their roosts are in dark locations where they can drop down into flight. The Seminole bat has mahogany colored fur with silver-ish tips that give the bats their beautiful reddish coloring. The Seminole bat eats insects. They especially like leafhoppers, flies, beetles, bees, and ants. If you would like to read more about these bats, you can do so here.
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! The best part of mine was the holiday on Monday. It was nice to sleep late and relax. There was a powerful earthquake in Japan on Thursday. I would like to dedicate this week’s blog to the people of Japan. My thoughts are with you all as you recover from this earthquake. I read about an adorable Japanese bat called the Yanbaru Whiskered bat. These bats have black fur over most of their body, with some hairs having silver colored tips. This bat was first discovered in 1996 and has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This is because its habitat is only 39 square miles of land. The Yanbaru Whiskered bat is only found on a few of Japan’s islands: three of the islands of the Ryukyu Archipelago, Okinawa, Amami Oshima, and Tokunoshima. This bat roosts in hollow trees. Because this bat’s habitat range is so small, deforestation is a major threat. If you would like to read more about the Yanbaru Whiskered bat, you can find information here. As you are making your plans for the rest of the month, please consider attending Herndon’s Naturefest. It will be on September 23 from 1-5:00 at Runnymede Park in Herndon, VA. Save Lucy’s esteemed leader, Mrs. Sturges, and I will both be there. And best of all, Mrs. Sturges will bring some of our batty friends. I hope you all have a good week.
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. It was the first week of school for me. For the most part, it was pretty good, but I do miss sleeping late every day. Arizona Senator John McCain passed away on the 25th. He was a senator for 31 years, before that he served two terms in the US House of Representatives. He also served as a Naval pilot in Vietnam where he became a decorated war hero. This week’s blog is dedicated to Senator John McCain. My thoughts are with his family. I decided to write about a bat from Senator McCain’s home state of Arizona and found a very interesting looking one called the Ghost Faced Bat. This bat gets its name from the way they look. Unlike a lot of other bats, the ears of a Ghost Faced bat join at their head. The ears are large and round and connect to the head near their cheeks. This makes their eyes look smaller than usual and appear to be inside of their ears! The also have leaf shaped flaps of skin that protrude from their chin. They are very handsome! Unlike a lot of bats, these bats live in places that don’t get too cold during the winter. For this reason, they don’t hibernate and are active year-round. And because they are content where they are, they don’t migrate either. These bats live throughout Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and into Central America. Their habitat is desert scrub and they roost in caves, abandoned mines, tunnels and old buildings. They eat insects like all other bats in the United States. Instead of foraging near water, they hunt for their flying dinner far above ground. If you would like to read more about these amazing bats, you can find […]