Jacqueline McHale - Central School
Morris County Winner
Species on the Edge Art and Essay Contest winner. Indiana bat. Jacqueline McHale
Indiana Bat
Wow, that was close! Oh hi! I'm an Indiana Bat. I just lost a scary looking owl. If you ask me, I think owls are evil, just like bobcats, snakes, hawks and raccoons because they try to eat me every chance I get. Wait, hold that thought! There are a bunch of juicy mosquitoes over there. Swoop!
Well, that was very refreshing. Sorry. I did not mean to be rude. Its just fall and I have to eat a lot every night. I eat about one thousand pounds of insects, moths and spiders so I can build up fat. In winter, Indiana Bats hibernate in caves. In summer, females go live on the banks of streams. That's where we have bat children. It takes about one moon for them to fly. Males live in forests in the summer. In the winter, however, we absolutely, positively cannot be awakened in our hibernation sleep. We will lose the fat we stored during summer and fall if we are awakened. That means we die. Other reasons we die are our predators, poison, major flooding, and you. Yes, you wake us up in caves with your lights on your heads and your weird monster-looking things you travel in. You also get rid of forests we live in that we use for our summer homes.
So, please help my species by making access to caves where we sleep forbidden and stop cutting down forests. You started doing some of that but help us a little more. Together, we can wipe our names off of the endangered list for there are only about 244,000 Indiana Bats left.
What's that glow? Oh! It's almost dawn. Remember, look towards the sky in spring, fall, and summer. Try to make out a tiny bat about 2 inches long. Look for a uniformly dark gray to grayish-brown fur but with a pink nose. If you live in the odd state New Jersey, go to the northern part.
Uh, oh! My mother is using echolocation to find me. She'll kill me if she finds me with you! Here's the plan. I'll jump on her while you quickly leave. Ready? Go! Fly, flyaway! I mean walk or run, run away. Whatever you humans do!
Jacqueline McHale
East Hanover Central School
East Hanover, NJ
Teacher: Mrs. Bozzi