Roost in the house

This morning as I was feeding the animals and Kristie was taking a shower, I heard a screeching sound coming from the middle of our basement, mainly the chimney. When Kristie finished her shower, I asked her if she could hear something. She pointed to the dehumidifier. I shut that off and - sure enough - the screeching sound commended again.

I could see Kriste retreat just a bit into the shower. Here we go again, I could hear her thinking.

Two summers ago we were down in the basement when I noticed Einstein paying rather too close attention to the trap at the bottom of the chimney. As I walked over to him, I could hear some chirping.

Great, I figured, a bird is trapped. This happened once when I was a boy. Mom and I opened the trap and pulled out a sparrow drench in soot. I didn't know if it was going to live, but once I brought it outside, it took off and was gone before I knew it.

A quick rap on a tin covering a hole about chest level - where an old stove vent used to attach to the chimney - inspired another chorus of screeches.

So armed with a flashlight (after having to run to the grocery store for batteries), gloves, and a broom handle, I pried the trap open. I lied about that. I sheepishly tugged it open an inch at a time. Finally, I had it pulled far enough away to get a look inside - nothing just remnants of an old bird's nest and guano.

Now I should mention here that we have bats. I enjoy sitting outside on a bench and watching them frolic around the house at dusk. This year, though, I've noticed that we have more than ever. I'd say there are at least a dozen. Sometimes I even stand on our sidewalk and let them swarm around me.

Kristie really has nothing to do with them, always reminding me that they spread rabies. This I know. I read Cujo in sixth grade.

I even found a bat in the office one morning. I scooped him up and put him in a dark corner of the garage, but when I checked on him later in the day, he was dead.

Of course, this terrified Kristie. How could a bat get in? I guess then that I shouldn't tell her that I found from the internet that a bat can squeeze itself through a space as tigh as 3/8''. I was wondering about this too until the other night when I was trying to find Einstein for his late night snack.

Then I remembered that I hadn't let him inside yet. So I opened the back door and saw him sitting in the back yard. He didn't make any effort to come inside as he usually does when he hears me come to the door. So I was going to grab him and bring him inside (otherwise he has a bad penchant of getting on the roof and bellering just outside our window at around three a.m.). As I approached him, I saw him lunge at a small, dark figure swooping before him. He was after a bat! I never saw him move so fast. The bat easily evaded him and swerved over to one of our trees. Einstein didn't give up though. He climbed right up the tree in hot pursuit. By then I had my answer as to how the former bat had found its way into our house. So I pried Einstein off the tree and brought him in.

Now back to the screeching in the chimney. Once I had the trap open - I used one of Kristie's make up mirror to look up the chimney. No baby birds or God knows what else. So I concluded that it must be bats clinging to the side of the chimney.

Tonight I waited outside to see the bats begin to feed. When they were good and swirling around me - dive bombing me every once in awhile - I ventured back in to the house and down into the basement to rap on the chimney. The screeching started up again. They must have babies in there.

After some internet browsing, I discovered that Minnesota actually has seven varieties of bats. We have the small brown kind. They made in late fall and winter. Then they have their young from April to July. I guess our bats were holding off until the very end. The good news is that while the bats may be noisy, the young are able to fly within three weeks, so they'll be out of here before we even know it, though for Kristie those will be three long weeks.

Here is her version of the events. I must say that she has a much more amusing take on the situation that I though - enjoy --
(Okay, blogger is being stupid tonight. It won't properly show the link. So just click on the 'alphafemale' blog link under 'blogs I enjoy' and read all about it. Trust me, it's worth it.)