Hugh Brophy, Princeton Day School
Mercer County
Indiana bat. Mercer County. Hugh Brophy
Indiana Bat
Hi, I'm Indy the Indiana brown bat, aka Myotis sodalis. Don't get me confused with my cousin the little brown bat. Everyone says we look alike; some people even think we are the same species, but I don't get that. The length of my toe hair is much different to that of my little brown cousin and my fur is a slightly different hue of brown than his.
Talking about other bats, did you know that there only eight other species of bats that live in New Jersey and I am the only the only one out of all those bats who is endangered? Why you ask? - because of humans coming into our caves while we're hibernating and waking us up. Most of us can't go back to sleep and even if we don't freeze to death, we'll probably starve. That's about 30,000 bats dead. And to top it all off, we are one of the most common victims of white nose syndrome, a horrible disease in which the victims' nose turns white. However, even though we are endangered we're not exactly underfed; the average Indiana bat will eat half its weight in bugs a night.
Sometimes I get teased for being the "little guy." I don't mind it that much because I am pretty small. Two inches to be precise. My wingspan isn't much better; it is 10 inches.
Us, Indiana bats are charming creatures but if you don't save us we will become extinct. Please do not walk into a cave without checking for bats.
Hey, was that a bug? Come back bug! Gotta go now.
Bye!
Indy
Written by: Hugh Brophy
Princeton Day School, Princeton
Teacher: Mrs A. Klein