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 use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years.

Hi everyone! I just learned something really interesting. Did you know that young bats have to learn to drink while they are flying? The sad thing is that sometimes they miss and go into the water. Sometimes they try to drink water from swimming pools. I don’t really think that’s a good idea because they probably shouldn’t be drinking all the chlorine, but sometimes that’s all they can find. It’s really bad if they end up going into a swimming pool. If that happens, they usually can’t get out and they probably can’t swim very well.

So if you work at a pool or own a pool yourself, you can help bats and contribute to science by being a part of the Bats and Pools Survey! If you find a wet bat please call Save Lucy or your closest bat rescue. (You can find local bat help with Bat World Sanctuary's Locate a Rescuer page--Ed.)