Monday, March 1, 2010

Things That Go Bimp In the Night

Mom & Dad were here for a wonderful visit, but left just a day before some excitement at the Villa! First, I need to back up and tell you about when I first went to look at Miss Molly, almost nine years ago. Her "foster father" came to the door and before he even let me in the house, asked, "You don't want a dog for protection, do you?" No, I assured him, just companionship. He let me in, and I fell in love with this little mutt, who we now know is actually half dog/half chicken.

I was awoken by something last night. I'd taken a sleeping pill, so my brain had to work hard to rouse me. I was vaguely aware that there was Something in the bedroom with us. Molly didn't even bark. She just looked at me as if to say, "Hey, you better check that out." As I forced my fuzzy brain toward consciousness, I realized...there was a bat in my bedroom. (I didn't get hysterical because this was
actually the Villa's third bat, but the other two were 20+ years ago. Please read about them here; it's relevant.)

The bedroom door was open and I saw it fly into the living room. I closed the bedroom door, and went into the kitchen to prop open the back door. Supposedly, bats don't want to be indoors, and if you open a door or window, they will find the fresh air and get out. I sat in the living room for half an hour, watching this stupid bat fly back and forth, back and forth. I knew I was destined to fall back asleep soon, so I closed the door, opened a living room window about 6" (it was about 15ยบ outside!) and went back to bed, closing the door tightly behind me.

I haven't seen the bat since, and I hope he found his way outside. I'll find out soon enough if he didn't.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your story hit quite a nerve with me! My wife, daughter and I live in an A-frame house, in a very rural part of Connecticut. On July 4, 2000, we were at a neighborhood picnic...my wife stayed late (party animal), but my six year-old kid and I headed home at around 8PM..dusk. When we opened the door of our beautiful little A-frame house, we found at least fifty (maybe 100) bats flying around in a circle, right in the living room! I won't bore you with the details of how we got rid of them, but it was quite a night. And our little "bat party" resulted in a summer's worth of rabies shots for the whole family! On the bright side...they DO eat a lot of bugs!

- Bob.

tim's wife said...

Oh yikes! I don't skeeve out easily
but bats will do it everytime. I went back and read about your past bat encounters. (spoiler alert) I was relieved to read it was the bat and not the boyfriend in that large vase! ;o) My Sophie dog was just as yella. She scared the heck out of strangers with her barking and protectiveness(I've had take-out delivery guys run for their lives) but she was as lily-livered as they come behind all that ferociousness.

Sandy said...

Do you have a belfry? Love your batty reports!!!

La Cootina said...

Bob - YIKES!! I'd be curious to know how you got rid of them but more importantly, how did they get in???

I had a new cap put on my chimney after Bat #2, which was probably 19-20 years ago. I'm freaked out wondering how this little fellow got in...and if he has a direct route to my bedroom. {{{shudder}}}

Sandy said...

While we were living out in the countryside in Colombia recently, we had to walk past a grove of Mango trees (in the dark - because the sun sets at 6 p.m. all the time) and if there was little or no moon, it was not unusual to be "zoomed" by bats, disturbed by our passing. More than once I could hear their batwings fluttering, and their sonar "chirp," and feel them just brush past my face or hair. It took a lot of internal fortitude to not attempt to wave them off with my hands!!! Of course they "see" better than I do in the dark, but I wonder if they feel any sense of horror at making contact with us??

La Cootina said...

LOL! "Watch out for those humans. They're so dirty, and I hear they have rabies!"