Going a Little Batty

At approximately 2:30 this morning, Deke and I both awakened to a strange noise in our bedroom. We heard a whisper come in our partially opened door then proceeded to make noise somewhere outside the little window on the east side. I got up to investigate thinking it was the same sound we've heard for years on our roof. But as I was heading into the bathroom, I saw a shadow cross in front of me-flitting back and forth. Instantly I closed the door. By that time Deke was up and reached his hand inside the door to turn on the light. He went to get something so I peeked inside only to see a bat alighting on the rim of the tub! A BAT! Yikes! Filthy dirty things. Rabies.

We plan our strategy. Can't just walk in there and try to kill the thing. OK, let's look up "How to Kill a Bat" on the internet. Hmmm. You're not supposed to kill the bat because the bat is our friend and kills lots of insects. Who cares if it bites us as we both coexist in the bathroom! Another site suggested getting into the closed off room and opening the window so it could fly out. Great. How do I know the thing has flown out? How do I know the thing won't enter my house like it did before? How do I know the thing doesn't have rabies if I don't capture it and take it to the authorities for testing? And if it does have rabies, there's a great possibility that the whole colony has the virus! I'M NOT GOING IN THERE! If we only had a net. We do have a net-an old fishing net hanging up in the barn. Deke retrieves the thing and we form a firm strategy. He'll cover himself completely, get inside the room, throw the net over the thing, cover it with a plastic bucket, slide the lid underneath and voila we have a bat!

All goes well on the first two counts. He covers himself completely and goes inside the bathroom. No bat. Where is the bat? He has to be in there, I say. He certainly didn't come out this way. Just on a whim Deke throws the net over the top of the cabinet near the shower. YES! I bring a stepladder and now we see The little bugger for the first time. He squeals and bares his teeth fighting to get out of the net. Deke throws the plastic bucket over him and maneuvers the lid underneath. Success! We carry it to the garage and deposit it on the floor sealing the bucket.







We crawl back into bed around 3:30 but dream the whole rest of the night of house sounds and bat wings.

Fortunately, Deke doesn't have to report to work before noon. We both taught classes last night for our Family Night Live series, and Deke is teaching Men's Fraternity tonight so he is taking a half day off. We awakened around 8:30 and headed straight to the garage. Deke lifted the lid and we found our night invader immovable and non-responsive. DOA. Kicked the bucket. A goner. Caput. Croaked. Bit the bullet.



So now we'll take him to the health dept for testing and if it's rabies, we are going to have to find out how this little guy got in our house. The website said to not do anything until after Nov 10th when they migrate to warmer climes. Two months.

So that's our story and we're not going to change it. It's a mystery that needs solving and we may end up calling in the professionals before it's all said and done. But in the meantime, we're going a little batty.