Month October 2016

Baturday at the US Botanic garden

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a high school student, bat advocate, 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. Rachael has been writing the Baturday News for over three years. Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I had an awesome one because it was Bat Week! It has been totally amazing to watch myself and all the other members of Bat Squad on BCI’s webcasts. It was also a lot of fun answering all your questions on Twitter. It was nice to talk with so many people who were interested in bats. Just in case you missed them, you can see all of the webcasts here:  http://batweek.org/ . Today, I will be at the Botanic Gardens in DC. They are having an event called “Bat Bonanza” and it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. People will be able to learn all sorts of cool facts about bats, see the Bat Squad videos, and even see some live bats! That’s right, Mrs. Sturges will be there with our furry little friends! The event will be from 10 AM to 5 PM in the Conservatory. If you need more information, you can find it here. I hope to see some of you there! I would also like to remind everyone to stay safe while you are out enjoying Halloween. It’s sure to be a lot of fun for humans and bats alike. Hope you all have an awesome week!

#BatWeek #BatSquad #BatWeek #BatSquad!!

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a high school student, bat advocate, 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. Rachael has been writing the Baturday News for over three years. Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I am very happy to announce that Bat Week starts tomorrow! 😀 Think batty thoughts! I am very excited because Bat Week is a perfect way to end Bat Appreciation Month. The bats at Save Lucy are all very happy too. They think they deserve extra mealworms to celebrate the special occasion. I think they’re right. In honor of Bat Week, there are a lot of events scheduled around the country. Actually, I think there are batty events scheduled all over the world! One of my favorite events will be the airing of the Bat Squad webcasts. The first will air Tuesday, October 25 at 1:00 and the last one will be Friday, October 28 at 1:00.  All of the webcasts will be followed by a 15 minute Q&A on Twitter. These Q&A sessions will feature all the members of Bat Squad. I will be on Twitter on Friday to answer questions. Please watch these webcasts! I think it’ll be a lot of fun! My other absolute favorite event will be at the US Botanic Gardens in Washington, DC on Saturday, October 29 from 10:45-4:15. The Bat Squad webcasts will be shown throughout the day. There will also be Q&A sessions after each showing. But the best part of the day will be Mrs. Sturges and the bats! That’s right, Mrs. Sturges, my friend, mentor and president of Save Lucy, will be there too! With BATS!!! It’s […]

The rules of attraction

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a high school student, bat advocate, 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. Rachael has been writing the Baturday News for over three years. Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! As you know, it is Bat Appreciation Month. One way people can celebrate this spectacular month is by doing things that would attract bats to their yards. I found an article that explains how people can do it! One way you can attract some bats to your house is by building a bat house. Sadly if you live in Northern Virginia, this might not work for you. The bats that live around here don’t seem to like houses that people hang up for them. They would much rather find their own little homes. If you live somewhere else, or just want to give putting out a bat house a try, then it should be at least 15 feet above the ground. This will help protect bats from predators on the ground. You might also want to contact your local bat experts. They might be able to help you decide on what type of house to put out for the bats that live in your area. Another way you can attract bats to your yard is by planting a garden. It is better for the environment if you use plants that are native to your area. A nice garden will attract yummy bugs that bats like to eat. If you plant night-blooming plants, nocturnal insects, such as moths, should visit your yard and you will probably get more bats. Your garden should also attract animals that come out […]

Dracu who?

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a high school student, bat advocate, 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. Rachael has been writing the Baturday News for over three years. Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I am very happy because I am in the middle of a 4 day weekend! I am going camping with my Girl Scout troop.  I really hope we see some bats flying around. As promised, this week we will learn about the real Dracula. There really was a Dracula and he wasn’t a very nice person. His real name was Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia. Wallachia is a place in what is now Romania. Vlad III’s father was inducted into the knightly order called the Order of the Dragon. He got a new last name, Dracul. Dracul means “dragon” in old Romanian. His son, Vlad III, was called Drăculea which means “son of Dracul”. When Vlad III was a child, his father took him and his brother to a meeting he was having with Sultan Murad II. The meeting was a trap to arrest them. The father was released, but the two boys had to stay as prisoners. Eventually they were freed and Vlad III returned to his home in Wallachia. Vlad III eventually ruled Wallachia three different times. During the time that he was ruler, he tortured and killed many people.  He was killed in battle in 1476. In 1897, a man named Bram Stoker wrote the book Dracula. He based the character, Dracula, on the real Drăculea. Although the real Drăculea didn’t turn into a bat and fly around, he was still someone that most […]

October is a special month!!

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a high school student, bat advocate, 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. Rachael has been writing the Baturday News for over three years. Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! I would like to wish everyone a very happy Bat Appreciation Month! In celebration of this spectacular month, I decided to find out why bats are associated with October and Halloween. Apparently, it dates all the way back to when the ancient Celtic people celebrated their holiday of Samhain. They would gather around bonfires to ward off evil spirits. These bonfires would attract flying insects, which would attract bats. The bats were simply looking for a tasty treat, but because the people saw them flying around, they became associated with the holiday. When the Celtic holiday of Samhain evolved into Halloween, the bats became part of Halloween too. When the vampire bat was discovered in Central and South America in the 17th century, people began associating that bat with the holiday as well. Apparently, a little teeny, tiny bat that sucks blood was considered a “natural association for a dark holiday.” Of course, the teeny, tiny little creature grew tremendously with the stories of Dracula, but that vampire bat story is complete fiction. You can read about the history of bats and Halloween here. Next week, maybe we’ll compare the real Dracula story to the fiction one.  I need to do some research first. In the meantime, I hope everyone has an absolutely wonderful week! And I hope you all enjoy Bat Appreciation Month as much as I will! [The association of bats and Halloween is not […]