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? 

We're a Culture Days event!!

We're part of Culture Days!!!  For those who don't know, it's a Canada-wide event that celebrates every aspect of our culture!  Including Hallowe'en art and our tour!  Click here for our listing; yes, it needs an edit but Eileen from Perth Arts Connect is on top of things (thank you, Eileen) and I'm so happy for us! 

One lost life...

Last Tuesday, on our morning walk, Willow and I came across a dead bat.  S/he was still relatively fresh but very dead, and the ants were busy already.  Still, it was a rare opportunity to see one of these stunning creatures so up close.  And it was a somewhat strange meeting as we normally walk on the other side of the street, on the sidewalk. 

The white arrow points to where the little one was lying.  My guess is that it's a Little Brown Bat.

I phoned the Canadian Center for Wildlife (1-866-673-4781) to ask if they wanted him/her.  The very nice fellow at the Centre said the bat probably died from trauma and that they don't normally collect specimens found along roadsides.  Still, he took my information and said that they keep such reports on file so that if more dead bats are reported they have a history and can investigate if something appears to be wrong.  I could, he said, either bag him and put him in the trash or leave him for the scavengers.  I figured at least someone should benefit so left him there.

Poor little guy... hope it was at least quick.  There seemed to be quite a bit of damage on the underside...

Elora is awesome!

Yesterday we travelled to Elora, ON, to pick up my sister's commissioned pendant from artist Carla Drimmie.  Imagine my joy at hearing that Carla loves bats and is very sorry to personally witness their decline in her area, as she used to have lots of bats swooping and zig-zagging over her property...  So I invited her to our tour!  This is the pendant she made for my sister, it reminds me of the infinity symbol, with the world, or perhaps a single soul, hanging in the balance.  She mentioned she would like to make a bat, and if you look on her website at other examples of her work you'll see it embraces fluidity and a very uncluttered grace.  Wow, can you imagine her interpretation of a bat?  I'm VERY excited!  Let's keep our fingers crossed that she'll join us!   Please?!

We also went to the Visitor's Center to take advantage of the upcoming "Monster Month" in October and dropped off a stack of pamphlets and a poster for our Hallowe'en tour.  (The poster is already up!)
  We lunched in the beautiful park alongside the gorge close to "Lover's Leap" and then visited with the Monster Month Queen herself, Julie Denneny.  First we glimpsed the INCREDIBLE new creatures Tim Murton is working on for the Twilight Zoo, and for the new park in Elora he's bringing to life a stunning Unicorn!!!  WHOA!!!!  Tim used to work in Hollywood in set creation... I hope to have an opportunity to see more of his work.  Julie was at her Bed and Breakfast so we enjoyed walking there admiring the stunning, unique houses!  Wiggit Hall is very welcoming (named after her beloved cat) and we enjoyed sitting on the porch and discussing Scare Fair, the cemetery that we'll be putting up and so many other details about this incredible event!  If you're in the area, consider getting involved:  Julie would very much appreciate your extra hands!!!!  Anything Hallowe'en!
  Before heading home we walked around the downtown area a bit (a beautiful place to spend some time, by the way, I highly recommend it) and brought home some delicious almond croissants and other pastries from Pastry & Fine Cakes (135 Metcalfe).  And we still got home in time to feed Willow her dinner!   

Here's a close-up view of one of the beasties from last year's Twilight Zoo. 

Scaring up the ghouls around Ottawa

I was out and about visiting my sister in the Ottawa area and happily displayed tour bookmarks and pamphlets at three locations:  the Bonnechere Caves, the Carp branch of the Ottawa Public Library and the Comfort Inn in Peterborough.  Also, I left a pile of both with my sister to put out closer to September.  Sadly, we didn't get around to the Haunted Walk of Ottawa, we were simply too tired by nightfall to head out again!  (There's more about our visit on my other blog.)

  My clever sister was inspired to knit a batty dish cloth!  I think it's really a great idea for the bat or Hallowe'en enthusiast: subtle, fun and practical.  As you can see, it's roughly 8 1/2 inches square, made in 100% ultrasoft cotton and can be machine washed and dried.  Perfect!   
  She hopes to have 2 more ready for the tour, but if you're keen contact me:  we'd love to hear your enthusiasm!  We have not decided yet if these will be auction items on the tour or if they will be for sale on her "studio" spot.

ScareFest 2012!

July 7th found us haunting the 8th annual Toronto ScareFest!

Wow! The creativity blew us away!  This was our very first ScareFest and are they all like this?!  Unless you were there, you have no idea how awesome these artists are.  Dead bodies everywhere, in various stages of decomposition!  Cut-off fingers galore!  Monsters!  Zombies!  I was so in my glee!



And there were two artists I hope very much will join our tour:  meet Carl Chalupa and Ghoul Friday!  Carl is a photographer with an excellent eye for balance and composition, and gory bits!  There were so many incredible images in his booth, I invite you to visit his Room 57 website and get lost in his dark and delicious vision!  And ask him to come play with us on our tour!

And here's a view of Danielle's Ghoul Friday table.  I've been eyeing her work for awhile and was tickled to death to get to see her paper clay and other creations in person!  I found it too hard to choose only one so two came home with me:  Hubbert and Beezle.  Their stories drew me in, beautifully written in Danielle's creation book...  And a copy of the book "Brains vs Coffee" was the perfect, witty, well rounded philosophical debate on the merits of these two kitchen essentials.  Please give her a boo and visit her website, and beg her to come and play with us on the tour! 

Hallo there! I'm Darien, and I'd like you to meet my friend Kheiravesh. He's one of the orphans in the Snuff Stuffy Orphanage, and he and his friends have been busy preparing for this Hallowe'en show, making friends (literally!). I can't wait to show you the snazzy bits and bobs I'm putting together for you :)
Visit Kheiravesh and his buddies at:

www.customcranium.com  or Custom Cranium Facebook

Ready, Set, Boo!

Here it is!  Ready for the 8th Annual ScareFest this weekend in Toronto, this pamphlet features all the artists who are participating in the

Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat and who have submitted their donation to either Bat World or Bat Conservation International! 

What an awesome group!

Give a round of applause to these amazing artists!

I'm so proud, this is going to be our best year yet, and it's only the beginning of July!  I hope still to get more artists involved, please contact me if you're interested: woosel{at}wildmail.com.

I've printed and folded about 160 copies so far, I also have about 100 bookmarks ready to go.

If you'd like to print out some copies and hand them around, we'd LOVE it!!  Click on the image above for a full sized copy; this prints nicely on a regular sheet of paper.  Then fold along the middle, the long way.  Fold along the black lines: the panels are NOT even (especially the front and back panels).  Then fold in the two ends so that the poster is the "cover".  And thank you!

Batty about bats!

Here's a super cool bat craft to share!  Sure, it's nice for Hallowe'en but it can be used for any environmental program as well.



Just click on the pictures for larger images. 

(I found this here.)