International Bat Night August 25-26, 2012

Obviously, this is true of everyone taking part in our tour (or at least everyone really likes bats) so let's get out on August 25th and celebrate International Bat Night!

Yes, it it the Year of the Bat (as declared by the United Nations)!  It's so important to inform everyone how important bats are to the planet's health... and so to our health.  Just think of all the insects that are NOT getting eaten because so many North American bats have died due to White Nose Syndrome.  More bugs means more pesticides, more poisons in our food, water and air... 

So celebrate our bats!  And share your love for these incredible creatures!  How about posting here how many bats you see on Bat Night? 

Why join us?

This is what we're all about: working together to save bats! This includes individuals who can't survive in the wild, like the adorable Lil' Drac at Bat World Sanctuary...

...and species, like the Little Brown Bat, that are being wiped out by White Nose Syndrome. This image appeared in Bat Conservation International's "Bats" magazine.

Stoking the fire!

Wow! Thank you, my dearies, for your inspiring and teasing posts!!! I've been a bit down on the tour lately as I'm hitting too many "too busy, maybe next year" brick walls from invited artists... But seeing your posts stirs up the fire under this old cauldron and renews my spirit.

A collector wrote "Here in Pennsylvania we have lost almost all the bats in this area to the dreaded white nose fungus disease, so your Halloween tour is one event which is very dear to my heart." That too reminded me why we're all involved in this event: to help the bats both with our donations to work towards an end to White Nose Syndrome but also to share our love and fascination for these often misunderstood creatures. Here's to saving the bats!

Once again: for the bats!

Of course, if you're in the New England states or southwestern Canada you probably already know about what's happening to our bats. White Nose Syndrome continues to spread and wipe out entire colonies of bats. For the latest news, read the Bat Conservation International newsletter at http://www.batcon.org/news2/scripts/article.asp?articleID=317&newsletterID=71

So, what can be done? Help the scientists find the answers to prevent the spread of this catastrophe by showing your support! Write to your governing bodies, tell people about what's going on and send funds to help pay for the research. We have to remain hopeful that a cure will be found in time to prevent the near-extinction of our bats. To learn more, visit http://www.batcon.org

It's coming!

Believe it or not, Hallowe'en is around the corner! And I'm thrilled to announce that 18 artists already have said "YES!" and will be participating this year in our studio tour. I plan to feature them as we get closer to the big day (Oct. 1st) but in the meantime you can always peak at http://www.halloweenstudiotour.com for the artists list.

And of course we're doing this for the bats! I sadly have to tell you that White Nose Syndrome has spread into Canada, detected in both Ontario and Quebec in April of this year. Bat population losses continue to climb to unbelievable levels and the ecological impact is, as yet, unknown.

So please, save some $$ to spend on the art that will be created just for this show and support our artists and the bats!

as they sleep dreaming batty dreams

I'm delighted to say that I'm already setting up our artists' pages and everything is coming together very nicely. One artist is already looking for the photos for her page, thank you Kim! She's also advertising the tour already, check out Kim Coffman's blog at http://goblinramblings.blogspot.com/ !

Last year there was a question concerning how the event benefited bats. To avoid last year's confusion, I'm happy to say that this year each artist is donating a sum directly to Bat Conservation International in lieu of a show fee. So each artist equals a donation to the bats, directly towards helping solve the deadly mystery of White Nose Syndrome.

Helping the Bats!

Okay, why am I doing this? Yes, I want to share all this incredible art with as many people as possible but also I would very much like to raise awareness concerning our bats. Bats? Yes, those adorable little critters that eat unbelievably huge amounts of insects and pollinate plants. As our natural world continues to be pinched (by us humans), getting smaller and smaller, bats are loosing ground.

Right now, in fact North American bat populations are suffering from a very scary disease called "White Nose Syndrome" that is literally wiping out entire colonies of bats while they hibernate. No one has yet determined the cause of the syndrome, but its affects are devestating. No bats means LOTS of insects which means crop loses, vegetation damage and, yup, lots of mosquitoes, black flies, deer flies, etc... feasting on you and me! Yicks!

To read more about bats, please visit Bat Conservation International at http://www.batcon.org/ . Each artist participating in this online tour has been asked to donate to BCI in lieu of a fee. So let's save our bats!