Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Little brown bat



Here's a photo thanks to NH Fish and Game and the internet. Last night we had a bat in the house, which Leo spotted (well Leo eyeballed something but being a cat- it could have been anything from a moth to a mouse), I heard it trying to get out the screen on the skylight, and Katie spotted. (Twice, the first time she thought it was a big moth). Of course we didn't know it was a bat until katie saw it and recognized it. She comes into my room and says so matter-of-factly "There's a bat in my room." I tell her to close the door to her room, and then I decided to go in and open her windows so the bat can fly out. Now I'm not scared of bats- they swoop around otuside while we use hot tub and I don't even flinch, but this one was crawling out from under her door into the hall. Not what I expected in any way! I screamed and ran into my room, slamming the door. "Dave- get the net."

"Why me?"

"You're the animal man."

With Leo as the tracker, he eventually got the bat in a fishing net in my studio. It was stunned when he let it go, but this morning there was no bat to be found outside. I hope it flew off eventually. In the NH Fish and Game website it said these bats can live for 20-30 years and eat 50% of their body weight a night in insects- like those mosquitoes that are everywhere right now.

Of course, my screaming scared big old 90 pound Harley to death, and he sat on the couch with Katie and myself as we waited for Dave to make his catch, shaking, and then once caught and we were going to bed, Harley went outside and wouldn't come back in. I had to pull him by his collar. Poor baby boy. And Katie who was so calm earlier decided she had to sleep on our floor- just in case the bat was still around which he wasn't...

Wish I could be calm and not a screamer, and I'm ok afterwards because I will pull my courage together, but that initial unexpected action is what sets me off...

That was our Adventure at home at 10 p.m. on the Memorial day Monday!

No comments: