Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! Since the Japanese cherry blossoms are blooming in Washington, DC, I thought that I would write about a bat from Japan. I found an adorable fruit bat called the Mariana fruit bat. The Mariana fruit bat has dark brown to black fur covering most of its body with grey hairs throughout and a beautiful gold or pail brown neck floof. Mariana fruit bats live in tropical and subtropical climates of Japan, Guam and in the Marina islands. They like to roost in limestone forests, coconut groves, and vegetation. During the…
Hi everyone! Happy spring! I hope you all had a good week! I have some amazing news! There is a horticulturist in Florida who has created a bat house to help one of the world’s most endangered mammals. The house has been designed to help the Florida bonneted bat. This bat has sadly lost most of its habitat and only a few hundred are left. The new house is able to hold more bats that the ones most people have in their homes. Even though this house seems perfect for the Florida bonneted bat, there is a chance that it…
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I would like to dedicate this week’s blog to the people of New Zealand. My thoughts are with you all. I researched some bats from New Zealand and found a cute one called the Long-Tailed bat. They have beautiful long chestnut brown hair. Long-Tailed bats have small ears and very small bodies. They are about the size of a mouse and can fit in the palm of your hand. These bats eat insects like small moths, midges, mosquitoes, and beetles. They live in forests in old trees, under peeling bark,…
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. Save Lucy’s President, Mrs. Sturges, found an interesting article that looks into the mystery of bat sounds. Scientists have found that some of the sounds that bats make resemble those of birds. Out of the 1,300 different bat species, the social vocalizations of about 50 have been studied. Of those 50, scientists discovered that about 20 of them are actually singing. It’s hard to hear bats singing if you go outside and watch them flying around. This is because a bat’s vocal range is in the ultrasonic range that is…
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I was home sick all week, so I didn’t really do much. I read an article about a new study being worked on by engineers at the University of British Columbia. The researchers are studying bat flight to help them develop better drones and other aerial vehicles. First the engineers built an aluminum bat wing and putting it in a wind tunnel. They then made a 3D computer model of the wing. They are studying how air flow affects the way a bat flies. Next, the engineers will make a…
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I had a fabulous one because it was a holiday week and it snowed! Snow days are always especially fun! It’s been an exciting week at the Save Lucy Campaign. That’s because there is a cute new rescue. An adorable little Silver Haired bat was rescued a few days ago by the people working at the Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Annandale, VA. The bat is now being cared for by Save Lucy rehabilitators. The bat’s primary caretakers at Save Lucy have generously named him # 2019-19. Bats in rehabilitation…
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I have been very busy with school and I’m looking forward to my three-day weekend. Recently, Franklin Junior High in St. Mary Parish in Louisiana has become a home to some fuzzy creatures. This is after Zachary High, the University of Louisiana at Monroe, and Gueydan High in Vermilion Parish became home to colonies of migrating Mexican free-tailed bats. A United Bat Control Owner went to Franklin Junior High to have a look. She says that it is most likely that the bats wanted to keep warm as they migrate…
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I found a really interesting article about bats. The article is all about the importance of background noises. Some people think that background noise is a nuisance. Bats, however use the noises that they hear outside of their roosts to plan their outings. A group of researchers decided to test how background sounds affected a bat’s hunting habits. The scientists selected two bat colonies, one being the common big-eared bat (Micronycteris microtis) and the other the Pallas’s mastiff bat (Molossus molossus), and simulated the sounds of heavy downpours. When the…
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I had a great one because I had almost no school! The polar vortex closed schools and caused delayed openings. We also got a little bit of snow. The teeny bit of snow caused them to close school on Friday. We have no school Monday because it’s a teacher work day. So, I have a 4-day weekend! And now for the bat news. At an NBA game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Brooklyn Nets, a few surprise guests appeared. A group of bats flew in from an unknown…
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! Yesterday, a dam at an iron-ore mine in Brazil collapsed. Because of this disaster, I thought I would research a bat from Brazil. I found a very cute bat! It looks like a shrew that knows something you don’t. It’s called the Greater sac-winged bat. In addition to Brazil, these bats live in several other Central and South American countries. Their range is from central Mexico, through Central America, into South America. They live in the South American countries of Brazil, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, Guyane, and the Antillean islands. The…