Bats in my belfry
Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:28 pm
I was painting more upstairs woodwork this evening, when I noticed one of the cats in the hall staring at something down the stairway. Then I glimpse something in the air coming out of the stairway and the cat following it. I go out there, and something flies by my head and back again. At first, I thought it was a bird, and wondered where it had come from. Then I realize it's a bat! And the cats are going nuts.
I yell to GW, who is in the exercise room, "WE HAVE A BAT!" and head downstairs after it. The poor thing is flying all over the first floor, trying to find a way out. The cats are chasing after it, climbing over the furniture whenever it attempts to light somewhere. We yell at them to get away, probably scaring the bat even more in the process. GW has the bright idea to use our laundry baskets to trap it. It lands on a window screen in our darkened sunporch/dining area. I put the basket over it, and GW hands me a flattened cardboard box to slide under the basket. Next thing I know, the bat is flying around again. It had slipped through the handle hole. Oops.
GW grabs our packaging tape and tapes over the handle holes while I use another basket to keep the bat downstairs. It finally lands on the doorframe to our bathroom. I slide the basket over it, and try to get it off the frame to get the box over it. I push on the door, unfortunately, and it opens. The bat flaps into the bathroom, then back out and for some reason just flops onto the floor. From there, we get the basket over it, the box over the basket and under the bat, and together GW and I carry it out onto our deck. Poor thing was totally freaked (as were we) and just sat there even when I lifted the basket off.
It was gone when we looked out again a bit later. I hope it recovered and flew off, and one of the neighborhood cats didn't get it. We think it came in where our house meets the foundation, the same path we haven't discovered for the occasional mouse and chipmunk to get in. There's a gap under our basement door, and it probably saw the light from there and came upstairs. One of the cats was staring intently at the gap afterwards, which is why we came up with the entry theory. We just hope the bat didn't come in with friends.
Thus endeth our excitement for the evening. Some additional and unintentional exercise for the day.
I yell to GW, who is in the exercise room, "WE HAVE A BAT!" and head downstairs after it. The poor thing is flying all over the first floor, trying to find a way out. The cats are chasing after it, climbing over the furniture whenever it attempts to light somewhere. We yell at them to get away, probably scaring the bat even more in the process. GW has the bright idea to use our laundry baskets to trap it. It lands on a window screen in our darkened sunporch/dining area. I put the basket over it, and GW hands me a flattened cardboard box to slide under the basket. Next thing I know, the bat is flying around again. It had slipped through the handle hole. Oops.
GW grabs our packaging tape and tapes over the handle holes while I use another basket to keep the bat downstairs. It finally lands on the doorframe to our bathroom. I slide the basket over it, and try to get it off the frame to get the box over it. I push on the door, unfortunately, and it opens. The bat flaps into the bathroom, then back out and for some reason just flops onto the floor. From there, we get the basket over it, the box over the basket and under the bat, and together GW and I carry it out onto our deck. Poor thing was totally freaked (as were we) and just sat there even when I lifted the basket off.
It was gone when we looked out again a bit later. I hope it recovered and flew off, and one of the neighborhood cats didn't get it. We think it came in where our house meets the foundation, the same path we haven't discovered for the occasional mouse and chipmunk to get in. There's a gap under our basement door, and it probably saw the light from there and came upstairs. One of the cats was staring intently at the gap afterwards, which is why we came up with the entry theory. We just hope the bat didn't come in with friends.
Thus endeth our excitement for the evening. Some additional and unintentional exercise for the day.
