Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Scary Little Visitor

      The other morning I was over at the park garden by 6:00 AM.  Did some watering and puttering, and even managed to take a zucchini home.  My wife was up by that time, and in the kitchen.  We first started to talk about the zucchini, when I noticed something unusual, a blob high up on the recessed stereo speaker.  My wife was facing in the opposite direction, so I said to her, "Don't scream, but we have a bat in the kitchen."  She was slow to respond, as she thought I was kidding about the zucchini.  "No dear, the bat up there on the wall."

Not a nice start to breakfast
      First order of business was to shut all of the doors to the kitchen, to prevent our little visitor the free reign of the house.  Now how to get him down?  I suggested we open the door to the deck, then turn the stereo on full blast to blow him off.  Good plan.  I went outside to watch, Cindy went out to the living room to turn on the stereo to max.  Nothing.  Loud music, still nothing.  I went over to the window to look, and there he was, still clinging to the stereo screen.  Guess he likes country music.
      Plan B.  I was to catch him in one of my tropical fish nets.  I was not real high on this plan because I figured he would get tangled in the net.  So for Plan C, I got one of my two gallon plastic tanks with a lid.  Moved a chair over.  But first shined a STRONG flashlight in his eyes hoping to wake him.  But he must have been still dreaming about the country music concert.  The good vibes from the speaker.  So I slowly mounted the chair, put the tank over him, then slid the top along the wall to dislodge him.  I expected squeaks and fury, but he dropped into the tank without much of a fuss.  Took him out to the deck for a little photo shoot:



      We went out to the compost pile, where I placed the tank, then removed the lid.  Still napping.  A couple of hours later, he was gone.  A couple of hours later I was somewhat calmed down.  Hope he eats a lot of nasty bugs.

8 comments:

  1. We just had our first bat of the summer...dislodged him just like you did, after lots of anxiety! I. Don't. Like. Bats. In. My. House!

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    1. Alica, I suppose he came down from the attic. Hope he finds a better way out next time.

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  2. Yours is the second bat story I've read today! So glad you didn't kill it like the 'other person'! My daughter is persueing her PhD. in Wildlife Biology and has been studying bats for several years. Like bees, bats are beneficial pollinators and they eat about 600 mosquitos an hour! In recent years, they are suffering from a deadly disease (white nose syndrome) and populations are on the decline. Thanks for keeping a level head and releasing this garden friend back where he can serve us best!

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    1. That is a pretty impressive mosquito number. I certainly would not want to kill the little bat. He was probably more upset than I was.

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  3. I would have screamed. But, I do like bats just not in the house. We have fruit bats here, very small that live under the eaves of some homes. NOT mine though and I am fine with that.

    This is the best story I have read this morning.

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    1. Glad you liked it, even more glad not to have a repeat performance.

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  4. A Bat in the house, eeek! We had one before we closed off the old chimney to an fireplace no longer reliable. That's how he got in and that's how he left. He sure created some excitement in the house tho...lil booger!
    From a previous entry of yours, the sunflowers glow. Would you mind if I drew them? They are lovely specimens.
    Also, I tried your tomato/cucumber salad. Very good use of fresh produce. Your gardens are bursting out loud. Now I have to try to grow garlic.
    BlessYourHeart

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    1. Dar, I would be thrilled to have you draw them. Please take a picture to email me or post to your blog. Hope you plant garlic this fall. Right now the gardens are struggling with the first day of a ten day 90+ stretch.
      Makes me want to get the gardening done real early in the morning.

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