Sunday Special Edition: The One with the Bat

I knew something was up when May got on top of a cupboard and started chittering at the corner behind the microwave. Then Chaos got on top of the microwave, leapt at the corner, and fell behind the microwave stand.

Oh oh. I don’t remember there being a tarry blob up in the corner like that…

Oh oh. That’s not a tarry blob at all…

It’s a bat!

Remember back in January of 2009 when a squirrel ripped a hole in my kitchen screen? I haven’t been able to figure out how to get the @!*#)@(*!! screen out to take it in for repair. And, since the kitties were taking care of any bugs that wandered through the hole, I haven’t been that concerned about that hole.

Until now. I’m going to get some thread and darn that hole so nothing larger than a bug can get in.

Anyway, back to the excitement. I sat down with my laptop and panicked via email to some people. (Many thanks to the calming online presences of Carolyn Crane, Bronwyn Green, Tam, and Lily, and to Jeanne who laughed her head off on the phone after everything was over.) Then I googled an article about how to get a bat out of your house.

Based on that information, I locked the kitties in the bathroom and closed my bedroom door. Armed with leather gloves and a towel, I put the towel over the bat and attempted to wrap him up. He got away and started to fly around as I hit the floor shrieking. When I looked up again, he wasn’t flying anymore and I didn’t know where he was.

*whimper*

By the time I figured out that the bat was in the ficus, he had taken off and started flying laps again. I crouched on the floor, trying to keep an eye on him in the living room mirror. Finally he hit the living room window and landed on the air conditioner, where I was able to drop the towel over him. (I’m glad that the article I read about removing bats warned me that he would squeak and chitter!!) Took the towel outside, tossed it on the step, and off he flew.

Whew!

“My eyes are locked and loaded, just in case!” -Chaos

“Mom, that bug was really big and cool! You were mean to take it away.” -Mayhem

79 thoughts on “Sunday Special Edition: The One with the Bat”

  1. I once had to remove a bat that had attached itself to my college dorm door decorations. Luckily, though, that was a flat surface, so I do what I normally do with bugs and just put a bowl over it, slid something under the open end, and then flung it outside. Clearly that wouldn’t have worked if the poor critter had opted for a corner of my room instead! I’m glad you were successful in ousting it!
    .-= sprite´s last blog ..a saturday double feature =-.

  2. Yikes!! I always feel sorry for bats that get caught inside, but they still creep me out a bit. I hope you’ve got that hole covered up now!
    .-= Bethany´s last blog ..New Ways =-.

  3. Eeek! I always know it’s time to break out the mouse traps when my cats line up in front of the stove, all peering suspiciously underneath. Fortunately I haven’t had to deal with anything larger than mice, let alone flying! Great job catching it and getting it out of the house! 🙂

  4. What is it about bats that bring out the girlie shriekers in us? I don’t shriek about anything else…

  5. OMG, he’s so cute in the photo! You handled it really well. Unfortunately, when that sort of thing happens out here in the desert near the Mexican border (one’s pets getting real interested in something on the wall or in the corner), it’s usually a huge bug of some sort like a nino de la tierra (DON’T Google this without being prepared for some shocking photos) or something even worse. I’ll take the bat any day. 🙂
    .-= Val Kovalin´s last blog ..Where do authors fit in on reviewer blogs? =-.

  6. That’s more excitement than you probably wanted, huh? Congrats on being intrepid and brave enough to get rid of the menace! (Whimpering but getting the job done does NOT take away from the bravery part. If anything, it enhances it.)
    .-= –Deb´s last blog ..Rose =-.

  7. OMIG!!! I would have totally freaked and called someone to come over immediately to take care of the bat! No way would I have gotten close to it. Congrats for taking charge and getting the bat out of the house. You are a braver woman than I.

    And your bat situation illustrates why I love having pets. Just think how long that thing could have stayed hidden in the house if it weren’t for May and Chaos? It could have swooped you in the middle of the night while you were sleeping. EEEKKK!!!
    .-= Ava March´s last blog ..Where The Princes’ Vacation Cruise Took a Turn for the Worse =-.

  8. Sometime I’ll tell you about my parents and me trying to get a bat out of the house. It was kind of hilarious…

    I’m not scared of bats, though I do tend to duck when they fly around.

  9. What a sweet little batty. I’m so sorry you were scared, though. Had it been a big hairy spider, I would have hidden in the bathroom with the cats. 🙂

    OMG!!!!! I have no idea why I did this, but I googled nino de la tierra and they ARE the devil’s babies. (I’m so, so stupid, but I now know that I can never visit the southwest. Ever.)

  10. OMG!!!!! I have no idea why I did this, but I googled nino de la tierra and they ARE the devil’s babies. (I’m so, so stupid, but I now know that I can never visit the southwest. Ever.)

    Ha, ha, aren’t they awful! They’re pretty harmless but you’d never know it to look at them. Rest easy if you live east of the Mississippi (they don’t get that far east). 🙂
    .-= Val Kovalin´s last blog ..Where do authors fit in on reviewer blogs? =-.

  11. Wow.. I applaud you for taking matters into your own hands and removing the little sucker yourself. Admittedly, I’d have taken the kitties and myself into the bedroom.. locked us in and called animal control to remove it. Bravery is one thing.. rabies is entirely another! That said.. I do think bats are cute when they aren’t in my house.

  12. LOL! At least once a year I get a bird in house because they’ll build a nest on the front porch and fly in when someone opens the door at night. I had a flying squirrel get into my apartment once. Now that was an adventure I would rather not repeat. 🙂
    .-= Sydney´s last blog ..Cloudy With a Chance of Tornados =-.

  13. Oh, my. At first I thought that the picture was of one of the cats which was trying to escape from having somehow gotten up into the space above your drop ceiling(you’ve got one of those, yeah?).

    Glad you released it: bats are so kind as to take care of the bug population.

    Scary, though, in the house, I am sure. Definitely weekend blog-worthy.
    .-= trek´s last blog ..Missing the point =-.

  14. So, your house is bug-free thanks to the bat? And now the house is bat free too. Double WIN!

    Kitties make good critter detectors, I have found over the years….
    .-= Carol´s last blog ..Pharmacy Roundup =-.

  15. I’m impressed you did it yourself – I probably would have just moved out.

    Kudos to Chaos and May for alerting you to the bat’s presence; they take care of their mommy!

  16. Patti: But it would’ve been hard to use the bat as a selling point, beyond the “keeps insect population down” angle…

  17. I didn’t laugh at you while I read this. I didn’t. Okay, maybe I laughed a little.

    That poor bat. Good for you picking him up with a towel and not swatting him with a broom like my grandma would have done.
    .-= AM Riley´s last blog ..Having a busy busy week. =-.

  18. That’s some crazy and heart pounding excitement! A bit scary but kinda cool too. Glad you were able to safely get him out without you or the kitties being bitten.

  19. OMG! We find a bat or two in the library every summer. I’m fine with that, but I don’ think I’d be fine with one in my house! You did a great job getting him out without hurting him.
    .-= janna´s last blog ..Isn’t it odd… =-.

  20. We had nino de la tierra’s crawling out of cracks in the pavement after the big earthquake out here. Yick yick yick. Big fleshy ugly things with creepy crawly legs. Yeah, I’d take bats over that any day.

    But bats do sometimes carry rabies and MIGHT be a man trying to bite your lily white throat, so I am sorry I laughed at you, Chris.
    .-= AM Riley´s last blog ..Having a busy busy week. =-.

  21. AM: If I have nightmares, I’m blaming you and Val! Nightmares of rabid men trying to bite my throat and nino de la tierras crawling on the walls… Eeeek!

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