Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I had a fun week, but sadly, it is now over. School starts on Tuesday, and I am not ready to start getting up early again. It’ll be nice to see my friends, but I do wish school could start a nice 2 or 3 hours later. Wouldn’t that be nice? There is currently a hurricane heading toward the islands of Hawaii. I thought I would write about a bat that lives there. As it turns out, Hawaii’s native bat, the Hawaiian Hoary Bat, is the only native land mammal to Hawaii. Sadly, the Hawaiian Hoary Bat has been on the endangered species list since 1970. Like many of the bats on the endangered list, this bat’s problems are due to deforestation and pesticide use. This bat likes to eat insects and lives in the forests of the islands of Kauai, Maui, the Big Island of Hawaii, Oahu, Molokai, and Koolawe. The bat has only recently been confirmed on Koolawe. The Hawaiian Hoary Bat is brown/grey colored and has white tips on their extremities. The bats are about 6 inches long and weigh about an ounce. If you would like to read more about the Hawaiian Hoary Bat, you can find information here.
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I went to Montreal for vacation! It was amazing. Montreal is a great city to visit and I highly recommend it. While I didn’t get to see lots of bats flying around at night, I know that Montreal has some cute ones. I decided to write this week’s blog on a little bat from Canada. The Eastern Small-footed bat is adorable! It is the smallest bat in North America and is only about 20 cm long with its wings stretched out. It has, as its name suggests, small feet. Their feet are less than half an inch long! Isn’t that adorable? They have brown fur with golden highlights, and a black furry face and ears. Their range is all the way from Virginia and West Virginia, into Pennsylvania, New York, and Canada. Even though they have a very big range, the Eastern Small-footed bat is the rarest bat in North America. One reason this species is threatened is because of problems with their roosts. They roost in caves, mines, and even under large rocks and other tight crevices. Many of their roosts are being disturbed while the bats are hibernating. Another serious problem these bats are facing is White Nose Syndrome. It is estimated that White Nose Syndrome has killed 12% of the species. When combined with other threats to the species, WNS is having a devastating affect on the Eastern Small-footed Bat. If you would like to read more about this bat, you can find information here.
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I went back-to-school shopping. It was fun to buy new clothes for school. The people in Indonesia haven’t been having such a great week. There was a really bad earthquake there. I decided to learn about a bat from Indonesia. I found an adorable bat called the Fawn Leaf-nosed bat. They got their name from their leaf shaped nose. Their nose narrows at the front to make their leaflets more visible than those of other leaf-nosed and horseshoe bats. Another distinguishing feature this bat has is their big ears. Fawn Leaf-nosed bats have adorable triangular ears. They have grayish-brown or orangey colored fur. Like most other bats, these guys eat yummy crunchy insects. They especially like moths and beetles. Fawn Leaf-nosed bats roosts in caves and abandoned mines. They also take shelter in sheds and other buildings. They live in areas close to water, such as rainforests and open Savannah woodlands. These bats range from Southeast Asia and Melanesia to the Coen region and Cape York. If you want to read more about these bats you can do so here.
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I had another restful one. I just love being able to sleep and relax during the summer. I read an article about bats in Wyoming. It was a sad article because it was about White Nose Syndrome, but the information in it was very important and I thought it should be shared. Many bat species that used to thrive are now listed as federally threatened. Our very own little Lucy, the Little Brown bat, which used to be the most common bat species in the United States, is facing a 90-95% mortality because of White Nose Syndrome. The Northern long-eared bat is threatened, and the Tricolored bat is about to be listed as endangered. And, if that wasn’t sad enough, the fungus that causes White Nose Syndrome was found on a bat in Wyoming earlier this year. Once a bat is found to be carrying the fungus, it takes two to three years for White Nose Syndrome to appear and wipe out entire colonies. And, since colonies in the west are much smaller than the ones in the east, the bats in an infected colony have an even smaller chance of survival. When a bat becomes infected with the fungus that causes White Nose Syndrome, they become agitated. The fungus makes them itch, which wakes them from their hibernation slumber. This eats up the fat reserves that the bats had stored up when it was warmer out and there were lots of bugs flying around. Usually when a bat is hibernating, it only wakes up a few times. It flies to a new place in the cave, or it licks dew drops that have collected on its fur and goes back to sleep. If the bat has White Nose Syndrome, […]
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. It was nice and relaxing. I wish it could be summer all year long! I found an article about the Northern Long-eared Bats in Wyoming. These bats are on the endangered species list and need all they help that they can get from bigger creatures like us. A group of bat researchers from the University of Wyoming drove out to the Black Hills in order to study these bats. This can be very difficult because bats are agile flyers and don’t like to be caught in nets. The bats aren’t hurt and are released as soon as they are fitted with transmitters. This study was important because the researchers are looking at where the bats live, and if any of them has come into contact with the fungus that causes White Nose Syndrome. In addition to the Northern Long-eared Bats they were there to study, researchers also found Western Small-footed, Little Brown, Big Brown, Hoary bats. One of the bats they found was a mother Northern Long-eared Bat. Luckily, White Nose Syndrome hasn’t been found in the area’s Northern Long-eared Bats, but it has been spotted less than 200 miles away in Fort Laramie, and Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota which is only 65 miles away. The researchers needed to study these bats because there is a logging team nearby. They were worried because the loggers are chopping down ponderosa pine trees, which are very important to the area’s Northern Long-eared Bats because they are used for maternity roosts. In order to make sure that the loggers don’t cut down any trees being used by the bats, researchers capture the mothers, glue trackers on their backs, and follow them back to their homes. The researchers were happy to […]
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! Since Shark Week is starting Sunday, instead of the wonderful Bat Week, I thought that I should have this week’s blog also be slightly sharky. Even though they aren’t bats, sharks are very important to us and do need help. Since Shark Week does raise awareness about how important they are, I decided that this year, I won’t be quite so hard on them. After all, they can’t help it that they aren’t lovely little bats. I did a little bit of research and discovered that there is a beach in South Africa called Gansbaai. This beautiful beach has been nicknamed Shark Ally because there are so many sharks in the water there. In honor of the sharks that swim around that beach, I decided to write this blog about a bat from South Africa. I found an adorable fruit bat called the Straw-colored Fruit bat. The Straw-colored Fruit bat, like its name suggests, has straw colored fur. They also have olive or brown fur mixed in with the straw colored fur. They have big eyes, big ears, and pointy heads that help them reach fruit. These bats, along with other fruit bats, have cheek pouches. They use the cheek pouches to stash fruit in. They like to do this, then fly away with their yummy fruit. They do this so that other bats can’t get to their tasty meal. Straw-colored fruit bats eat a lot of fruit, their favorites seem to be mangoes, dates, figs, baobab flowers (which bats are drawn to because they are very stinky), passion fruit, and avocados. Apparently, these bats are very vocal eaters, and like to scream about their food finds to their friends. They smack their lips while they eat, which I find […]
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I have had another nice and relaxing one. As I was looking for batty news, I stumbled upon a really interesting article. A research team in Kenya was studying African Yellow House Bats. There are 21 known species of African Yellow House Bats and the scientists were trying to accurately classify all the species when they made an amazing discovery. They believe they have discovered two new species of these bats! House Bats get their name from the fact that they like to roost in urban environments, but they are still very difficult to catch and study. Scientists knew there were different kinds because, while most of them have distinctive yellow bellies, some have brown or orange ones. Other than that, their physical differences are difficult to distinguish. Using skin samples, scientists analyzed the DNA of 100 bats in Kenya. They compared the samples to the bats in their genetic database and developed an African House Bat family tree. The new family tree helped organize the bats and showed that there are two distinct genetic lineages. Even though it is almost certain that these two bat species are new, researchers still have to show that they exhibit unique features, both physically and behaviorally, before they can officially be classified as new species. If you would like to read more about this exciting news, you can find information here. I hope everyone has a good week. Happy Bastille Day to everyone in France!
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week and that you enjoyed your 4th of July celebrations. I heard about a soccer team that has been stuck in a cave in Thailand. A lot of people are working very hard to get them out of the cave safely. It must be a very difficult job. I thought it would be nice to learn about a bat from Thailand. I found an adorable bat called the Greater False Vampire bat. They live throughout South Asia, including Thailand. They roost in places that a lot of other bat species also roost in such as caves, hollow trees, and old buildings. These very cute bats have big ears and an incredibly handsome nose-leaf that covers most of their face. The Greater False Vampire bat has blue-grey fur covering most of their body, and a brown-grey stomach. These bats are carnivores who like to eat many yummy things including fish and larger insects that smaller bats aren’t big enough to eat. Unlike other carnivorous bats, these bats will sometimes sit and wait for their prey to come by. Once they catch their tasty morsel, they fly to a nice safe place to eat it. If you want to read more about the Greater False Vampire bat, you can read about them here. I would like to wish all the rescuers in Thailand the best of luck. I hope everyone gets out of the cave safely soon.
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I am enjoying my summer vacation. I have been sleeping late and relaxing. I’m sure you all remember the hurricanes that hit the Caribbean last year. Hurricanes Irma and Maria did a lot of damage. It has been easy to forget about the hurricanes in the 9 months that have passed, but people living there have been unable to forget. Over 14,000 people in Puerto Rico are still without power. People are still rebuilding their homes. Not only has been difficult for people living there, but it has also been difficult for the animals. Luckily, they are starting to recover. I have some good news about the bats in the US Virgin Islands. Some bat species recovered from the hurricanes relatively quickly. The Pallas Mastiff Bat is one of those species. They feed mainly on insects, so they were able to continue to find food. Fruit bats were not so lucky. The hurricanes took down the trees on the islands destroying the food source for the fruit bats. Renanta Platenberg, a researcher at the University of the Virgin Islands has been studying the bats on the islands for many years. After the hurricanes hit, she and her team went out in search of bats to see how they were doing. It was months before they were able to find any bats. Instead, they saw birds dying of hunger. Then they found out that bats were dying on St. Croix. The hurricanes had destroyed the food source for the three fruit bat species on the island. Ms. Platenberg came up with what I believe was an ingenious way to help the bats. She went on social media and asked people to put bananas and other fruit out for the bats. Thanks […]
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. The world got some sad news Thursday when we learned of the passing of Koko the Gorilla. Koko was an amazing gorilla who had learned to communicate in American Sign Language. She was able to tell the world how she was feeling and what she was thinking in ways that humans didn’t realize animals would be able to. She was a great ambassador of the animal kingdom and will be greatly missed. I would like to express my sympathy to her caretakers and friends, especially Ms. Penny Patterson, who was Koko’s friend, teacher, and caretaker throughout Koko’s life. And I would like to dedicate this week’s blog to the memory of Koko. Since Koko lived in California, I thought it would be nice to learn about a California bat this week. Yuma myotis is just one of the adorable little critters that I read about. Not only does the Yuma myotis live in California, but it also lives in other parts of Western North America from British Columbia all the way down to Central Mexico. They live as far east as Oklahoma. They are covered by short brown fur and have little white tuffs on their stomachs. They always roost near a body of water, and like to rest in caves, attics, mines, and underneath bridges. They live in forests and desert areas with access to rivers, streams, ponds, or lakes. Like most other North American bats, these adorable animals like to munch on insects. Their favorites are moths, midges, caddisflies, craneflies, and beetles. If you would like to read more about the Yuma Myotis, you can find information here.