Month June 2016

Bats vs. Sharks

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 had a nice week! My week started off with final exams, but then the most glorious thing of all happened! The LAST DAY OF SCHOOL was Thursday!!! I do not need to go back to school until September! Isn’t that just wonderful??? I’m sure you all are as happy as I am that it’s summer. I just realized that I started writing this blog when I was in the 6th grade and now I am officially in high school! We’ve been through so much together. And now, we need to get through another Shark Week. If we’re strong, I know we can do it. While everyone is celebrating sharks, we can secretly celebrate bats and know in our hearts that they are so much better than an oversized fish. On that note, let’s compare the two. Shall we? Sharks:  Oversized Fish Bats:  Cute, furry little mammals Sharks:  About a dozen of the approximately 500 shark species are considered potentially dangerous to ocean swimmers. Bats:  Zero of the over 1,200 bat species are considered potentially dangerous to ocean swimmers. Sharks:  In 2015, there were 98 unprovoked shark attacks in oceans around the world. Bats:  In 2015, there were 0 unprovoked bat attacks in oceans around the world. Sharks:  A shark will eat another shark. They are cannibals! Bats:  A bat would never eat another bat. They are not cannibals! Sharks:  The main part of their diet consists of cute fish and other animals that we enjoy looking […]

A Bonny Bonneted Bat for You!

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 Orlando, FL. I hope the injured recover quickly and the people who lost loved ones find peace. I know it is a very difficult time for the people of Florida and for many people in other parts of the country. Please know that my thoughts are with you. Hi everyone! I thought it would be nice to talk about a bat from Florida. Many of the bats that live in Florida are the same types of bats that live here in Virginia. They do have a few that we don’t have here though. One of them is called the Florida Bonneted bat. I think it looks really interesting. The Florida Bonneted bat is an endangered species. It is also the largest species of bat in Florida. The Bonneted bat can reach a length of 6.5 inches, with a wingspan of 20 inches! Its hair color varies from black to cinnamon brown to gray. It is an insectivore, so it eats yummy flying insects. The Bonneted bat has two mating seasons each year. One is in the summer and one in January and February. They have one pup each time. These bats are very rare and are only found in a few counties in south Florida. Bonneted bats like to roost in bat houses, so if you live in south Florida and want to help this bat, I think putting up a bat house might be a good idea. The biggest threat to this […]

(Bat) Puppy love

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! Was there something missing in your life this past week? Something that you had grown to love and depend on week after week for years? Something you counted on to give your life purpose? Something you looked forward to reading every single Baturday? Was something terribly wrong, but you just couldn’t put your finger on it? Were you lost and confused? Good news! I’m here to fix that problem for you! The Baturday News is back! I am terribly sorry that my readers had to endure a week without their news. Due to technical difficulties beyond human control, the Baturday News could not be posted last week. However, now that the demons who took over the internet last week have been quieted, all will be right with the world once again. So, sit back and relax. Here is what you have been waiting for… As you know, it is June. What you might not know is that June is baby bat season! That’s right, there are little baby bat pups being born right now! So, I thought we should talk about little baby bats. Since my first bat friends were big brown bats, I decided to research big brown bat pups. I found out that big brown bats usually mate in the fall and winter. The pups are born in May and June (right now!!!). I also found out that in the eastern United States, big brown bats often have twins. In the western states, they usually only have […]