Sunday, August 7, 2011

Bat in the House!

A BAT was swooping around the house just as I was getting ready for bed. It was wonderful watching how he could fly and turn, but of course it was under a lot of stress. For one thing it isn't used to lights at night. I wasn't sure what to do since I don't have a butterfly net! It was madly circling arpund so fast I didn't think I could catch it. (Amir did catch two bats in the summer with a towel).

I stood by the front door with the screen door open hoping and praying and sending it a psychic message so it could just fly out, but the poor thing was on radar and didn't have a clue. I think it finally went down stairs to the basement, which is probably where it got in by the window I have open down there with no screen!

When Aslan (my 25# gray tiger cat)came in from his nightly neighborhood prowling he got his "pet on" on his favorite rug, went to his food dish and then STOPPED in his tracks. I'm sure he could hear the bat down there (inaudible to me). He walked over to the stairs and was poised there listening. I turned off the light and went up staris to bed. I knew that finding much less catching the bat in the basement would be pretty much impossible. Later I heard Aslan romping around the first floor. I was hoping he wouldn't trash anything in his effort to catch the bat. Of course I was afraid that in the unlikely scenario that he did catch the bat that it might bite him.

This morning no sign of the bat and no broken sculptures - thank GOD!. I hope it found the basement window and could get out on its own.

Part 2:

After Signe left her two person birthday party (complete with chocolate - cranberry cake) I settled on the couch to read and looked up at the bricks of the fireplace in front of me.

There she/he was. A compact, symmetrical little ball of brown fur and darker wings. Of course it was sleeping upside down. I was able to stand on the couch and gently nabbed it with a pink hand towel. I saw his tiny little foot. I wanted to take a better look and maybe take a picture, but didn't want to wake it up or for it to be more frightened than it was already being in a foreign human home. Of course I didn't want to be bitten by a bat! I carried it outside and gently placed it on the small rocking chair on my big Midwestern front porch. When I checked a few minutes later it was gone.

I'm glad I was able to catch the bat and let it free. Earlier in the day I was concerned that it would be hungry as I was not sure what food it might find in the basement.

All's well that ends well!