A Batty Encounter
08-15-2006, 12:07 AM
#1
A Batty Encounter
Went through this once last summer and now...
Last night I was down in our rec room (we have a 4 level split home) reading a little before midnight when I saw movement. Sure enough, we've got yet another small brown bat in the house. Our rec room is very cluttered as my wife has all of her sewing stuff in big boxes, all the kids' toys which haven't been played with in 8 years are stored here plus we have a entry door to the laundry/utility room and a 4th bedroom. I simply closed the door leading upstairs and went to bed, hoping to hunt it down the next morning.
Tonight I've been down here since dinnertime. Wife is at work and my teenage daughter has 2 friends over upstairs in the family room to watch a movie. My son took refuge from the girls in my office watching "Air Force One" on the DVD equipped computer. The door leading down here to the rec room where I am is closed so if Mr. Bat decides to awake in search of his nocturnal insect dinner I'll see him and he won't get upstairs to startle the girls. Didn't see hide nor hair tonight so I suspect (or hoped) it had simply found it's way out last night the same way it had gotten in.
No luck. Just after 9pm my daughter calls down to say the bat is upstairs flying around in the living room. My plan is to simply take the screens out of a few windows and get it to fly out the window. This bat looks a little larger than last year's but isn't swooping at us. My research last year showed that bats in the wild contract rabies no more often than the rate as any other animal - less than 0.5%. Furthermore, when bats do become infected they quickly become paralyzed and die. It's the sick bats found on the ground people try to pick up with their bare hands which usually spells trouble.
After a few laps around the living room / dinning room Mr. Bat detects the screen is gone in the window and flies out into the vast darkness. I'm still amazed how silently and skillfully these creatures can fly.
The girls remained very calm and continued playing their game as the movie had ended a couple of bowls of popcorn ago. I couldn't get them to participate in the chase but no screams of terror - just, "No Dad, that's OK, you can do it". And, like last year, the dog didn't even wake up.
Last night I was down in our rec room (we have a 4 level split home) reading a little before midnight when I saw movement. Sure enough, we've got yet another small brown bat in the house. Our rec room is very cluttered as my wife has all of her sewing stuff in big boxes, all the kids' toys which haven't been played with in 8 years are stored here plus we have a entry door to the laundry/utility room and a 4th bedroom. I simply closed the door leading upstairs and went to bed, hoping to hunt it down the next morning.
Tonight I've been down here since dinnertime. Wife is at work and my teenage daughter has 2 friends over upstairs in the family room to watch a movie. My son took refuge from the girls in my office watching "Air Force One" on the DVD equipped computer. The door leading down here to the rec room where I am is closed so if Mr. Bat decides to awake in search of his nocturnal insect dinner I'll see him and he won't get upstairs to startle the girls. Didn't see hide nor hair tonight so I suspect (or hoped) it had simply found it's way out last night the same way it had gotten in.
No luck. Just after 9pm my daughter calls down to say the bat is upstairs flying around in the living room. My plan is to simply take the screens out of a few windows and get it to fly out the window. This bat looks a little larger than last year's but isn't swooping at us. My research last year showed that bats in the wild contract rabies no more often than the rate as any other animal - less than 0.5%. Furthermore, when bats do become infected they quickly become paralyzed and die. It's the sick bats found on the ground people try to pick up with their bare hands which usually spells trouble.
After a few laps around the living room / dinning room Mr. Bat detects the screen is gone in the window and flies out into the vast darkness. I'm still amazed how silently and skillfully these creatures can fly.
The girls remained very calm and continued playing their game as the movie had ended a couple of bowls of popcorn ago. I couldn't get them to participate in the chase but no screams of terror - just, "No Dad, that's OK, you can do it". And, like last year, the dog didn't even wake up.
08-15-2006, 11:44 AM
#2
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RE: A Batty Encounter
Hello; Your post reminds me of when I was a taxi diriver, in the 60's; I got a call to go to the local military base to pick up some dignitaries to take them to a fancy dress up ball. When I got there I could see 6 or 7 people with strapless gowns and all the fancy military uniforms trying to smack the bat out of the air with their riding crops and drill canes. At the time, I had never seen such a ridiculous scene, and it collapsed me with laughter. By the time they came out, the ladies were a little the worse for wear, with their hair falling down and the make up running from laughter, and the men were all exhausted and out of breath, and a bit disshevelled from the chase. It still makes me smile to think of that night.
