In honor of the people of Ecuador

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.

A pale spear nosed bat. (Courtesy Fauna Paraguay)
A pale spear nosed bat. (Courtesy Fauna Paraguay)

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. A lot of things happened in the world this week. There were earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador, HM Queen Elizabeth had her 90th birthday and a singer named Prince passed away. I would like to dedicate my blog to all these people, especially the people affected by the earthquakes. I think that maybe their weeks weren’t quite as good as mine was.

I thought it would be nice to research a bat from Ecuador. There were a lot to choose from. They have some bats that are very different from the ones we have here in Virginia. One of my favorites is the Pale spear-nosed bat.

The pale spear-nosed bat is really cute! They are between 8 and 11 centimeters with an average wingspan of 42 centimeters. Their wings have rounded tips and they have broad faces with short snouts. They have a little leaf like nose that is broad with a spear-like projection. They have really adorable ears that are long enough to reach the tip of their nose. Their fur color ranges from pale yellowish brown to almost black. Their chest and stomach are much paler and can be almost white to gray.

These bats don’t only live in Ecuador. They live from southern Mexico to northern Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and across southeastern Brazil. They like to roost in hollow trees or in the mouths of caves. They eat plants and insets, and most of their diet consists of nectar, pollen and flowers. They are very important pollinators for some flowers.

If you want to read more about them, you can read it here.

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