This week’s blog features Rachael’s imagination inspired by a new illustration by E. Hi Everyone. Tinybat wrote another poem! I think it’s pretty good for a little bat. Don’t you? And he did it with no help… Tinybat’s Vacation Dream On the beach I’ll lay But not in the sun of the day I’ll be in Hawaii soon To tan by the light of the moon The umbrella will give me shade My pale winter look will fade Will a bat get a burn? I’ll try to remember to turn While I sip my beetle drink The ice against the glass will clink I dream of going to the beach But for me, that might be out of reach Instead, I’ll stay here with my people And maybe eat a little beetle
Hi Everyone! I thought you might want to see the first bat babies of 2014. They are so cute and tiny! Unfortunately, one of them didn’t make it. The other one is doing well. It’s hard to raise them and take care of them all alone because they live in colonies in the wild. I hope the surviving pup continues to do well. I promise to include more baby pictures when I get them. (Update: There are now 4 big brown bat pups in house and more are being transported to us on Monday.–Ed.)
Hi Everyone, A famous poet named Maya Angelou passed away this week. She worked for equal rights. I am dedicating this week’s blog to her. One of her quotes is, “We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” Even though she said this about the fight for equal rights, I thought it could also relate to bats with White Nose Syndrome. Right now, it doesn’t look good for our bats. I think that even though we are suffering through a huge defeat, if we work together, we can still succeed and not be defeated. I think that with all the research that is being done right now, they will eventually be able to cure the disease. Let’s all hope that they are able to do this before too many more bats die. And here is a happy bat picture to encourage everyone…
Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 6th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big browns bats that use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years. Hello everyone! I went to the National Wildlife Federation website and found a couple of cute bat pictures. There are more if you like them. The website is http://www.nwf.org/search.aspx . I hope you like them! (We thank our friends at NWF for sharing photos with us! –Ed.) ________________ ^^ \|/ \|/ ^.-.^
Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 6th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big browns bats that use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years. Since the weather has been getting warm, bats have been forming maternity colonies to raise their pups. And because of that, it’s a great time to spot bats. The people at the Save Lucy or the Delaware Bat Program will train you on how to use bat detectors to find where the perfect bat spotting location is and how to do a proper count at a maternity colony. Bat spotters who are monitoring maternity colonies need to get at least one pre-volant count at their site, so you’ll need to learn how to do that. The pre-volant count period is between May 15 and June 21, so it has already begun. By the way, pre-volant means before the year’s bat pups start flying around. They need a count of bats that fly out from the roost. Once again, if you would like to help please contact Save Lucy. It sounds like fun, doesn’t it? ________________ ^^ \|/ \|/ ^.-.^ Bat Hanging Upside Down
Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 6th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big browns bats that use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years. This is where the bats hang out in winter Hi Everyone! I am very sad. The bats that spend their winter vacation at my house have left. One night this week, I went to see if they were in their roost, or if they had already left for their nightly feast. I looked at the roost and they weren’t there so I thought that they had gone to eat. I was in for a rude awakening. When I went to say “hi” in the morning, they weren’t there. The bats have left me! ^.-.^ /|\/|\ ^^ (But, the bats left to establish their summer maternity roost, which is a good thing. They will have their pups and be batty all summer. We’re glad to know Rachael will welcome them back in winter and keep them safe from harm. –Ed.)
Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 6th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big browns bats that use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years. Hello Everyone! Since it was very nice weather last weekend, a lot of the rehabilitated bats were released back into the wild. A hoary bat, two silver haired bats and six big brown bats were released. I hope they are happy and have been able to find some new friends out there. We had a lot of rain on Wednesday, so hopefully they were all ok. I am very happy to report that little “Paint Can” was one of the bats released. Remember him? He is happily flying free. ^.-.^ /|\ /|\ ^^ Here are some cute pictures of some bats that were released. Paint Can, a bat that had been put into a can with wet paint still in it, on left and his new friend just before release. Photo by S. Craig
Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 6th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big browns bats that use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years. Hi Everyone! In celebration of Earth Day, I thought it would be nice to let a little creature write this week’s blog. Lucky for us, Tinybat has been begging for another opportunity. Who knew he was a poet? We hope you like his blog. Hi! It’s me, Tinybat. This will be my second blog post! Today I will write a poem for the blog. Please comment if you like it. I’ll be sure to reply. Mealworms A crunchy little mealworm That’s what I will eat A crunchy little mealworm Sweet, sweet, sweet http://youtu.be/_-nK0WuBkJo
Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 6th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big browns bats that use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years. Hi Everyone! Here is a nice and festive Batty Easter song. I hope you like it. Here comes Peter Battytail Flappin’ down the batty trail Flippity flappin’, Easter’s on its way Bringing’ every bat-girl and boy Baskets full of Easter joy Things to make your Easter bright and gay He’s got mothy beans for Tommy Colored wax worms for sister Sue There’s an orchid for your mommy And an Easter bonnet too Oh! here comes Peter Battytail Flappin’ down the batty trail Flippity flappity, happy Easter Day Here comes Peter Battytail Flappin’ down the batty trail Flippity flappin’, Easter’s on its way Try to do the things you should Maybe if you’re extra good He’ll bring lots of Easter bugs your way You’ll wake up on Easter mornin’ And you’ll know that he was there When you find those chocolate beetles That he’s hiding everywhere Oh! here comes Peter Battytail Flappin’ down the batty trail Flippity flappity, happy Easter Day Flippity flappity, happy Easter Day My apologies to Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins who wrote the original song. I hope everyone has a very Happy Easter!!!