Going Batty

At lunch yesterday Kristie called to inform me that our little baby bats in the chimney were no longer so lovely. It seems there was one perched upstairs. I have no idea how it got in the house.

Of course, Kristie had no interest in removing it. She didn't want KoKo getting near it either even though KoKo is an animal lover and would have gladly helped out.

When I got home later that afternoon, I saw it perched above the hallway window upstairs. It was tiny and I could have walked by it without even knowing it. I looked close at it and noticed its ears move and it flinch a bit. It must have been alerted to my interest.

Before I did anything foolish, I hit the internet, namely batworld.com, to find about how to remove a bat. I was relieved to learn that less than one half of one percent of all bats carry rabies. Kristie had set out some heavy winter work gloves for me, but I didn't want the bat squirming away when I got it nor did I want it getting squashed. The website recommended getting a box and then covering the bat and sliding a piece of paper beneath it to force it inside the box. Then wait until dark to release the bat and watch it fly away. This sounded great, but where the bat got itself was only a few inches wide, so I couldn't find a box that narrow. I did locate a clear plastic cup that would do the trick though.

However, just as KoKo and I were in position - I was balancing on a chair and she was perched on the stairway railing - the bat had other ideas and took flight. KoKo screamed and dashed into the office and closed the door. I leaped off the chair - causing it to screech on the landing - and took cover in the corner while the bat swooped around the hallway for a few minutes. I thought that my presence in the corner might impede it from trying to land and perch again, so I ducked into KoKo's room and waited. When I opened the door, the bat was perched above our bedroom door! You can imagine just how much Kristie was thrilled with this new development.

After letting the bat calm down, KoKo and I were able to catch it inside the cup and take it out to the garage where it found a safe place to perch.

I'm waiting for the next call . . .