Category Blog

Things heat up for bats in Australia

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 7th grade 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 this wild colony for years. Hi Everyone! I don’t know if you remember the heat wave that Australia had last year, but it looks like it’s happening again. I read a sad article about it. Apparently, temperatures there went over 110 degrees on Nov. 18. Up to 5,000 bats dropped dead from their tree perches. About 450 orphan bat pups were found and are being taken care of by the Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service (WIRES). The pups are between 2 and 4 weeks old and were still nursing when their mothers died from the heat. That’s a lot of baby bats to take care of! I hope temperatures there cool off soon. If you want to read more about this sad topic visit this article.

Pretty little surprise

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 7th grade 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 this wild colony for years. Hi Everyone! Another unusual bat came to the people at Save Lucy. I’m so happy because it might be a new species for around here. It looks like an unusually colored red bat, but some people think it’s something else. It might be a Seminole bat. Some hair samples are being sent for a DNA test to see what kind of bat she is. She was found on the road and it looks like she might have been hit by a car. She was very lucky because nothing was broken, but she has a head trauma. She’ll stay with the people at Save Lucy through the cold winter weather so that her brain can recover. Isn’t she cute?

A little batty for a bat

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 7th grade 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 this wild colony for years. Hi Everyone! Last time we checked in on Fierce he was quite sad. Things seem to be looking up for him and he’s writing more poetry. He is dedicating this to his girlfriend, Gladys. 🙂 The ending might need a little work, but remember that it was written by a BAT! Gladys Gladys my love You are as beautiful as a dove. When I was sad You made me feel glad. You’ve been a great friend While you helped my heart mend. I’ll always miss Tinybat, But you are another bat. You are my girlfriend. And now my poem will end.

Bats for Halloween!

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 7th grade 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 this wild colony for years. Hi Everyone! Happy Halloween! I hope everyone had a great time yesterday.  The people at Save Lucy got a treat too! We got a big brown bat whose name is Snickers! Isn’t that a cute name for a little bat? His rescuer had no safe container to move him in, so he used his shoe! Poor little Snickers has some  head trauma. I hope he recovers soon. Isn’t he cute? Oh yeah, anyone want a mealworm? (Just  a reminder…when rescuing bats it’s very important to stay safe. Please don’t handle bats with bare hands, and if you must use your shoe, please be sure you have safe surfaces to walk on! –Ed.)

Howloweeny

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 7th grade 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 this wild colony for years. Hi Everyone! As you know, Tinybat passed away last week. Fierce and Tinybat were best friends and right now, Fierce is very sad. He is so sad that he wrote a poem. Here it is: Ode to Tinybat There once was a tiny bat. We were friends and that was that. Where oh where did he go? In my heart, I don’t want to know. Tinybat, why did you die? I think I’ll just sit down and cry.                                                                                              -Fierce 🙁 On a happier note, next week is Halloween. It will be Freda and Quinn’s first Halloween. They are both very excited about it and are looking forward to seeing all the trick or treaters. They are hoping for some candy! Maybe a yummy chocolate covered waxworm is in their future. Doesn’t that just sound lovely? I hope all the bats have a wonderful and spooky day. I hope you all do too!

So long, and thanks for all the mealworms…

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 7th grade 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 this wild colony for years.   Hi Everyone! I have some really sad news. Tinybat passed away this week. He was a wonderful little guy and I’ll miss him terribly. The people at Save Lucy are really, really sad because he was a great bat. I am going to miss his poetry. I wonder if Freda or Quinn would be willing to learn to type so we can have some more bat poetry. Tinybat was a little tri-colored bat. He was small even for them. His wings had been hurting lately because he had arthritis in them. The people at Save Lucy did everything they could to keep Tinybat healthy and comfortable, but little Tinybat didn’t make it. He had been an education bat for a long time because he couldn’t fly well enough to be released into the wild. Save Lucy has another tri-colored bat named Fierce. Fierce and Tinybat were the best of bat-friends and Fierce seems very sad now. I thought it would be nice to repost Tinybat’s very first poem. I’ll miss you Tinybat! Mealworms A crunchy little mealworm That’s what I will eat A crunchy little mealworm Sweet, sweet, sweet In memory of Tinybat

Welcome Quinn!

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 7th grade 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 this wild colony for years. Hi Everyone! I would like to let you all know about the newest bat at Save Lucy. She is an adorable Gray Bat (Myotis grisescens) with a very bad joint injury in her wing.  Gray Bats are federally endangered bats who live in caves. I don’t think there are very many of them in Virginia, so this little girl is very special. Her injury is very serious and they aren’t sure she’ll completely recover. If she doesn’t recover, she’ll stay with the bats at Save Lucy. I hope all the other little bats welcome her into their group.

NASBR Teacher’s Workshop in NY

The North American Society for Bat Research (NASBR) is offering a teachers workshop at its annual meeting in Albany, NY on Saturday, October 26. Please see the flyer below for registration information. We’re presenting, as well as many other bat experts. Please share with any New York teachers you know!