Saturday, August 01, 2009

The Hunt Is On!

Earlier this evening, I was sitting in the living room -all comfy in my recliner and working on embroidering a set of pillow cases. Mandy and Maya were at Clate's girlfriend's house getting things set up for the yard sale tomorrow (but actually, that is today since it is now Saturday morning here) and Kurtis was racing and chasing about, being ornery by making lots and lots of noise while I was trying to hear a really interesting tv program. (I think it was "Flashpoint" but not quite sure about that.

Meanwhile, Kate was upstairs -doing who knows what and all of a sudden there was this clattering noise on the stairs -I wasn't sure if the cats were chasing each other and they sound like a herd of elephants running across the floor and stairs or if Kate had tripped on something and was stumbling and tumbling down the steps.

Next thing I knew there was something black that flashed by my right peripheral vision but when I looked in that direction, there was nothing there. Then, I could hear movement directly behind me and to my left and when I glanced over, there was Kate holding a big navy blue bath towel and hopping around while mumbling something about there being a bat in the upstairs hallway.

Just the kind of news I really wanted to hear ya know!

She dropped the towel on the floor and continued to kind of dance about, jabbering over and over about this darned bat. Kurtis picked up the towel and started to put his face in the towel and dance too while hollering "Bat, bat, bat!"

When I didn't get up and go investigate about this little intruder into my peaceful state, Kate asked if I was going to go try to catch it.

My answer: "HELL, NO! Leave it alone and your Dad will get it when he gets home!"

About a half hour later or so, I had to go into the bathroom and as I did, I happened to glance over to the right, into the bathtub and this is what I saw there.
Yep! There in the corner of the tub sat this little bat!

I came back out in the living room to the computer desk, picked up my camera and went back in to take this picture of our little visitor and when I came back out, I showed the picture I'd just taken to Kate.

First she wanted to know how the bat got into the tub and had I caught it and put it there? Yeah, right! I'm sure I'd be doing something like that!!!

"But how did it get in the tub then?"

Well, I figure the simple little thing just managed to fly down the stairs and the hall and took a right turn at the foot of the steps and landed in there!

She then called her Dad at work to tell him he needed to come home -right away -to catch the bat in the bathroom! Sure, he was gonna jump right on that! After all, he was only 12 miles away and by the time he would get finished closing up the shop and get here it would be at least another half hour or better. I don't think she was too happy when he explained that to her.

By the time Mandy got home, the bat was still in the tub so she called next door and the neighbor's son (Daniel) just happened to be home so he came over, captured the bat, put it in a tupperware bowl with a lid on it and then, took it outside and released it.

End of drama, right?

Nope, not quite!

About 2 a.m., Mandy, Bill and Kate had all gone to bed by then and I was sitting here, reading my e-mail, checking my Facebook and stuff like that when I heard noises coming from upstairs. It was obvious someone was moving around, moving things around too, but who and why?

Pretty soon Bill came down stairs, got the broom and as he headed to the steps, he told me that he was on the hunt for yet another bat upstairs -this one in Kate's room.

After about a half hour more and lots and lots of movement and noise, he finally came downstairs carrying a shoebox with yet another bat in it and took it outside to release it.

Now, Kate's downstairs, talking on the phone -probably to her boyfriend -and she announced to me when she came down that she's definitely not sleeping up there tonight!

Meanwhile during this whole major bat hunt production, where were the lovely hunters of small animals that live here with us -namely the cats, Nina and Chino? Both of them were curled up in tight little balls, just zeeing away in the bedroom right across the hall from Kate's room, totally oblivious to the activity going on there as Bill was swatting and sweeping away, trying to find and capture this second bad!

And so ends another exciting night in our household!

12 comments:

Maggie May said...

Blimey! That has to be the most exciting post you have ever written!
Do you mean that the cats are bringing them in? Or is there a hole in the roof?
Over here it would be a calamity, as bats are a protected species and it would be very difficult to disturb them with renovations or roof repairs without getting a hefty fine or even risking imprisonment.
Hope they are not vampires!!!!!!

Dianne said...

Holy Bats!

I used to rent a garage that had bats living there
I left them alone and they tolerated me

Sandi McBride said...

Any idea how the bats invaded your space Jeni? I'm all for bats out in the night sky, but not in house. That's why I bought them their own house!!! Hope you find the avenue of admission soon!
hugs
Sandi

Anonymous said...

Yes, that's true, over here the bat nuts would sooner move you out than have you disturb the precious bats. I'm all for kindness to animals, but when did it happen that their rights superseeded ours?

Funny story though.

Berni said...

Bats carry horrid diseases including rabies, nothing to mess with get rid of them asap hopefully your animals have had their rabies shots if they are bringing them in.

Jeni said...

To clarify a bit -the cats are not bringing the bats into the house. They sneak and slide through tiny gaps between the siding and the eaves and such. My comment about the cats was to the effect that if they are supposed to be "hunters" then they sure were asleep on the job last night as two of them -the adult cats -were both sound asleep in the room right across the hallway from Kate's room, which is where Bill caught the second bat! Lazy cats. That's what we have here as they pretty much disregard any indications of mice too!

Betsy Brock said...

Oh my! We've had one stuck in our pool pump before, but never a live on in the house!

Travis Cody said...

Yup. My cat continued his nap in the bathtub while Pam and I had our 30 minute battle with a huge spider last night.

We're both afraid of them and this one really was way too large to be allowed. We coated the bastard with Raid and it still kept crawling at us. Finally it slowed down enough so we could vacuum it up.

We were on edge the rest of the night. Nasty things.

terri said...

First snakes, now bats! Yikes! I'll deal with my spiders and mosquitoes, thank you!

Anonymous said...

Ah, sorry I wasn't there to take care of the situation Mom. I do remember the time we had a bat in the livingroom. Too funny. Well, funny now. Perhaps next time you could get the tupperware container instead of the camera? Just had to say that you know! Love ya.
luv
Your Eldest and most charming:)

Marguerite said...

Wow, Jeni, that's pretty scary! I don't blame you for letting someone else deal with them. Hilarious post!

Suldog said...

Damn. Not much freaks me out, but bats are not high on my list of enjoyable creatures. Get those cats to earn their living or tell 'em the Friskies will not be forthcoming :-)