Leslie Sturges

Leslie Sturges

Erin go Bats!

I would like to dedicate this blog to the memory of Professor Stephen Hawking. Stephen Hawking was an English theoretical physicist who passed away earlier this week at the age of 76. Professor Hawking was a completely amazing person who was diagnosed with ALS when he was 21 and was given only two years to live. Despite his illness, he continued to live a full life and made countless contributions to science. He once said, “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.” I think that’s a good rule to live by. Professor Hawking was an inspiration to many people and he will be greatly missed. Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. Since today is St. Patrick’s Day, I thought it would be nice to learn about an Irish bat. I found an adorable bat called the Daubenton’s bat! It has red-brown fur, with a cute pinkish face. Not only do these bats live in Ireland, they also live in England, Wales, Northern Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They like living in tunnels, bridges, caves, and old stone buildings with good hiding places. They will even roost under rocks on the cave floors and tunnel floors. Since they blend into the color of the rocks, they are nearly impossible to find. In the summer, Daubenton’s bats roost in humid, underground places that are usually close to a body of water. To get their dinner, these bats fly a few centimeters about the water’s surface and catch caddisflies, mayflies, and midges. They will even plunge their feet into the water to get a tasty meal from below the water’s surface. The population of this species has been affected by damage and […]

Bringing a fungus to light, or vice versa…

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I was sad on Thursday because it had snowed the night before, and I STILL HAD SCHOOL!!! There was at least half a millimeter of snow on the cars when I woke up in the morning. The sidewalks were damp. It was obvious to all Fairfax County Public School students that there should at least be a delay. I mean, they’ve cancelled school for less in the past. But, nothing! I had to go to school on time! The injustice of it all was overwhelming! Ok, I feel better now… I have some good news in the world of bats! Scientists might be on the verge of a breakthrough in eradicating White Nose Syndrome! As many of you know, the fungus most likely began in Eurasia, and the bats over there seem to be immune to it. The bats here in North America, however, are not. Little Brown bat populations have dropped 90 percent since White Nose Syndrome first appeared in New York. And, Tricolored and Northern-long Eared bat populations have dropped 97 percent. White Nose Syndrome even snuck its way west of the Rockies. There has been no news of any hope for a cure except for relying on time and evolution, until now. Hundreds of researchers have been trying for years to find a way to stop, or at least slow down, this deadly disease, with no luck. New research is beginning to show some hope of a solution. A study led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been looking into the genomics of the fungus that causes White Nose Syndrome. They have discovered that this fungus is missing an enzyme that allows it to repair its DNA after it’s been exposed to UV light. They are […]

No good sticky situation!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! Yesterday, it was so windy that they cancelled school and I got to stay home! I did the sensible thing and slept ’til noon. It was great! This week’s blog is a bit sad. It’s about something that needs to be said, but it makes me sad to think about it. This week’s blog is about glue traps. These traps are very harmful to animals. And I’m not just talking about the flies that people are trying to catch. These things hurt other animals, including bats. A glue trap is basically a piece of cardboard, fiberboard, or a plastic board that has been coated with an incredibly sticky glue. It is a sort of nontoxic way to control pests (the glue sometimes contains insecticide). The problem with these traps is that they catch animals indiscriminately and the animals that are caught cannot break free. I totally understand that people don’t want insects, mice, or snakes in their houses. But, these traps are cruel. Animals are stuck in these traps for hours or even days. These traps don’t only catch the intended animals, but they catch any animal that happens to come by. Whether the trap is inside or outside, it can catch birds and bats in addition to other animals. Earlier in the week, I saw a story about a Lesser long-eared bat that had been caught in a glue trap and couldn’t get free. A lot of microbats get stuck in these traps because they hear all the tasty bugs, and don’t realize there is a danger hidden underneath their dinner. The poor little bat struggled to get out of the trap so much that he dislocated one of the small bones in his wing, and ripped the tape […]

A magical land where foxes fly and bats are frosted!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I have been enjoying the Olympics again this week. It has been fun to watch the ice skating, ice dancing, and skiing. Just like bats, I think there are some sports that aren’t getting nearly enough attention. For example, curling…what exactly is it? Since the Olympics are almost over, I’m starting to look forward to the 2020 Summer Olympics. They will be held in Tokyo, Japan. Japan has many different species of bats. They have both insectivore bats and fruit bats. The frosted myotis bat is a vesper bat that only lives in Japan. From its description, I think it must be an adorable little bat, but unfortunately, I was unable to find a picture of the little guy. Its back fur is brown with frosted tips and its stomach is a little lighter. It has velvety soft fur. The frosted myotis is very similar to the Yanbaru whiskered bat and the Burmese whiskered bat. It wasn’t discovered until 1969. This little bat likes to roost in tree hollows and is found in the mountain forests of lower elevations. Since it only lives on the islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, this bat isn’t very common. It is listed as endangered. If you would like to read more about this little bat, you can find some information here. Another bat found in Japan is the Bonin flying fox. Other names for this bat are the Bonin fruit bat and the Ogasawara giant bat. This beautiful bat lives in the subtropical forests of the islands of Chichijima, Hahajima, North Iwo Jima, and South Iwo Jima. Its fur is mostly black and brown and it has some silver-tipped hairs mixed in. The hair around its head, neck, and shoulders is frizzy. They […]

And Norway takes the Gold for tiny cute bats!

Today’s blog is dedicated to the people of Parkland, FL. I hope the injured recover quickly and the people who lost loved ones find peace. Please know that my thoughts are with you. Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I have been enjoying the Olympics. I’ve watched it every day since the Games started last week. So far, Norway has won the most medals with a total of 19. In honor of the Norwegians performing so well, I thought I would research a bat that lives there. I found a very adorable bat called the Nathusius pipistrelle. The Nathusius pipistrelle bat is very similar to the common Pipistrelle, but it has a different echolocation call. Both calls can be picked up by bat detectors, so you can easily tell them apart. The Nathusius pipistrelle has pretty reddish-brown fur on its back and stomach, and darker brown fur on its face and tail. This bat lives throughout Western Europe from the Ural Mountains to Turkey and, of course, Norway. He likes to migrate from the Northern and Eastern areas or Europe to the Southern and Western areas of Europe in the winter time. Just like the bats I’m used to seeing here in Virginia, the Nathusius pipistrelle likes to eat insects. They roost in hollow trees and old houses with small crevasses for them to hide in. One interesting fact about this bat is that it was chosen to be the first “Bat Species of the Year” by Batlife Europe in 2015. This distinction helped the Nathusius pipistrelle gain attention throughout 30 countries in Europe who promoted conservation issues and public awareness of this adorable little bat. If you want to read more about this bat, you can find information here and here.  

Is Batwatching an Olympic sport yet?

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I am excited that I can watch the Olympics again! It’s always fun to see all the athletes doing amazing things. I also like seeing everyone getting along so nicely. It’s nice to see that athletes from countries that don’t always like each other are able to put their differences aside and participate in the Olympic Games peacefully. I am especially excited to see North Korea and South Korea participating together as one great team. In honor of the fact that the Olympics are being held in Pyeongchang, South Korea I decided to write about a Korean bat. There are several different species of bats that live in Korea, but sadly, it’s very hard to find information on them. I did find some information on an adorable little bat called the Northern bat. This little bat has short round ears that kind of remind me of a mouse. They have blackish-brown fur, with dark brown or goldish fur on the tip of its head and back. This cute little critter lives all throughout Eurasia, from Scandinavia to Northern Italy, and Eastern England to Northern Japan. It is mainly found in the northern part of the continent. Many people think that these bats live in one place year-round, but they really are just slow migrators and like moving over a period of years. These little bats eat insects and especially love eating Ghost moths. One interesting fact that I learned was that in high altitude areas of Eurasia, the female Northern bats actually fly during the daytime! They do this because of the short nights, but the best hunting is after dusk and before dawn.  If you would like to read more about these cute little bats, you can find information […]

Wings with a view!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! It was an eventful one. The week began with sad news out of Afghanistan. This week’s blog is dedicated to the people of Afghanistan. I hope the injured recover quickly and the people who lost loved ones find peace. My thoughts are with you. We finished off the week with a little groundhog telling us that we were going to have six more weeks of winter. First, I would like to express my sympathies to all the little groundhogs who were woken up from their comfy slumber to predict the weather. Second, I would like to request that Mother Nature listen to the little critter and give us some snow. We really haven’t had a good snow this year and I would like to build a snowman. And now for the bat news! I found a very interesting article about how some bats migrated into South America and Mesoamerica. Usually plants and animals migrate from the continents to islands, and apparently moving from islands to continents is practically unheard of. This is because there are fewer competitors for food and fewer predators on islands. Scientists studying fossil records of Short-faced bats of South America discovered that these bats most likely originally came from the Caribbean islands! From there, they colonized Mesoamerica and South America, where the species now happily lives. Since this is very unusual, scientists wanted to know why. They came up with two explanations. First, the Short-faced bat has a powerful bite. This might have helped them eat foods that other bats couldn’t. This allowed them to have a wider variety of foods that they could eat. Secondly, these bats had amazing wings! Their wings were semi-transparent, which enabled them to see their predators while they hid in […]

Santuario!!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! Mine was awesome because, once again, I did not have a full week of school. That’s right! Friday was a “Teacher Work Day”, so I got to stay home. Monday is another one, so next week will be a 4 day week as well. Sometimes my life is amazing! I found an article about a bat sanctuary in Mexico. Since it was in a Mexican magazine, it was written in Spanish. I do not speak Spanish. Like, really…barely a word. So, before I begin, I would like to thank Google Translate. And now for the wonderful news that I discovered in this article! I am very happy to announce that The National Commission of Protected Natural Areas, a corporation in Mexico, is trying to create the first bat sanctuary in Mexico! The sanctuary is a wonderful idea in my opinion, and will be mainly for millions of Mexican Free-tailed bats. I don’t know if you all remember, but a few years ago, the Save Lucy Campaign had a surprise bat guest, Freda. Freda was one of the sweetest and sassiest Free-Tailed bats I have ever met. Of course, I’ve only met two, but I digress. I hope that this sanctuary will be able to help many bats like Freda. Scientists are still searching for the best place for the sanctuary. They have managed to find seven ideal bat caves throughout the country. One of these caves, the Cueva de la Boca is already a beautiful summer home for a maternity colony of approximately five million Mexican Free-tailed bats. The Cueva de la Boca, used to be home to one of the largest Mexican Free-Tailed colonies in all of Mexico! After vandals found the cave, the population decreased. Hopefully, with a […]

How much is that doggie faced bat in the mistnet?

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I had a great one because it started with a holiday. I hope everyone had a happy Martin Luther King, Jr Day. I am very excited because something very special happened recently in the bat world! Scientists have discovered two new dog-faced bat species!!! That’s right! For over 50 years, scientists thought that there were only six species of dog-faced bats. After studying bats found in Panama and Ecuador, they discovered that there were actually eight different species. The two new species are called the Freeman’s dog-faced bat and the Waorani dog-faced bat. And they are adorable! Dog-faced bats are extremely tricky to capture, seeing as they fly faster than a lot of other bats. Using mist nets, researchers were able to catch 56 Freeman’s dog-faced bats. They didn’t know until later that they had a new species! It’s also tricky to get echolocation recordings of these bats, but the scientists managed to get some. Sadly, they were not able to get recordings of the Waorani dog-faced bat. It was also a bit harder to get catch one of these bats. Their discovery of this bat was based off of physical examinations and comparing the DNA of these bats to the DNA of some of the bats they already had. If you want to read more about these amazing bats, you can read about them here .        

Running hot and cold: Good for some, not so good for others

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I had a great one. The reason it was so awesome was because I had a “snow day” on Monday. That’s right, they cancelled school for the day because there was a possibility of freezing rain! I got to sleep in and watch TV. ? And do you know what makes that snow day even better? Thanks to that day, I will not need to go to school for an entire 5 day week at all in January!!! That’s right. There are “teacher work days” scheduled for the end of the month. Personally, I believe I could get used to this sort of thing. And now for the bat news…It is not good news. If fact, it is very sad news. As you all know, Australia is experiencing summer while we are experiencing winter. On the 7th, a very bad heatwave hit south eastern Australia. This is causing a lot of the flying-foxes to die of extreme heat exposure. The temperatures in Australia have hit record highs of 42-43 degrees C. For those of us in the US, that translates to 107-109 degrees F. In Sydney, the temperature got as high as 45 degrees C (113 degrees F). The poor bats can’t handle that kind of heat combined with the high humidity. As soon as they noticed the bats dying, volunteers began monitoring the bat colonies in Campbelltown, Parramatta Park, Yarramuni, South Creek, and Emu Plains. Bats were dying by the hundreds and volunteers raced to help those who could be saved. Volunteers rushed more than 40 young flying-foxes into critical care. Sadly, they were unable to save them all. Another day, volunteers braved the heat to save hundreds of little pups who have been rehydrated and reunited with their […]