Thread:61Storm/@comment-29709319-20190401001525/@comment-29709319-20190417024956

National Themes For April 17th: National Bat Appreciation Day, National Ellis Island Family History Day, National Haiku Poetry Day, and National Cheeseball Day.

🦇National Bat Appreciation Day! April is the best time of the year to observe bats, as they are now beginning to emerge from hibernation. National Bat Appreciation Day is also an excellent time to learn about the role bats play in nature. One important reason to celebrate bats is that they are considered to be an “insectivorous” creature because they rid our world of many annoying insects. In one hour, a bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes. Fun Bat Facts: ✨Some species of bats can live up to 40 years. ✨Bats can see in the dark and use their extreme sense of hearing. ✨Bats are the only mammal naturally capable of true and sustained flight. ✨There are over 1,200 known species of bats. ✨The United States is home to an estimated 48 species of bats. ✨Nearly 70% of bats are insectivores. ✨One of the largest bats is the Giant Golden-Crowned Flying Fox bat weighing up to 4 lbs with a wingspan of up to 5 feet, 7 inches. ✨Bats are clean animals, grooming themselves almost constantly. ✨North America’s largest urban bat colony is found on the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas. It is home to an estimated 1,500,000 Mexican Free-Tailed bats. This colony of bats eats approximately 10,000 to 30,000 lbs of insects each night. It is estimated 100,000 tourists visit the bridge annually to watch the bats leave the roost at twilight. ✨One colony of 150 Big Brown bats can protect farmers from up to 33 million or more rootworms each summer. ✨Almost 40% of American bat species are in severe decline, with some already listed as endangered or threatened. ✨Three U.S. states have an official state bat. Texas and Oklahoma have named the Mexican Free-Tailed bat their state bat, and Virginia has dubbed the Virginia Big-Eared bat their state bat.

🗽National Ellis Island Family History Day! “Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay, was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States as the nation’s busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1924.” On this day in 1907, just under 12,000 names were recorded as passing through Ellis Island. During all of 1907, over one million immigrants were processed through Ellis Island. On April 17, 2001, the first National Ellis Island Family History Day was observed. It was by official proclamation of our nation’s governors that April 17 be designated as “National Ellis Island Family History Day.”

📝National Haiku Poetry Day encourages all to try their hand in creativity. Haiku poetry is a form of Japanese poetry that is non-rhyming and normally consists of 3 lines with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5. Haiku poems are usually inspired by an element of nature, a season, a moment of beauty or an individual experience or event. Sensory language is used to capture a feeling or image. English haiku does not always follow the strict syllable count found in Japanese haiku. The typical length of haiku found in English language journals is 10-14 syllables, versus the 5-7-5 syllables used in the Japanese language. National Haiku Poetry Day was registered by Sari Grandstaff in 2007 and implemented as a project of The Haiku Foundation in 2012.

🧀National Cheeseball Day. There are two ways a cheeseball can be served: A cheese spread in the shape of a ball served with crackers, most often around Christmas in the U.S. This cheeseball is commonly made with softened cream cheese and other ingredients. Cheese puffs, which is a puffed corn snack, coated with a mixture of cheese or cheese flavored powders. Cheese puffs are manufactured by extruding heated corn dough through a die that forms the particular shape, most likely a ball shape.

I want about a dozen of those bats that eat a 1000 mosquitoes an hour. I'll even build them their own little home to sleep in during the day. I like my cheeseball with nuts in it. Yummy!

We had a nice 76 degree day with a very slight breeze today. What a change! To was nice! I'm so glad Bixby and Gilbert get along so well. I'm not sure if I haven't seen some people wearing their PJ's without it being PJ day.😂 Hi Ef welcome back and welcome aboard Gaiaweetgirl.

Warm Springtime hugs!🐶🐶💕🌤