monkeymom's Diaryland Diary
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Guest entry from Kim, the bat trapper.
Here is a guest entry from Kim, reporting on The Great Bat Adventure!
Okay, so the events of this story take place around 12 to 1:27 AM. Kyle had just left after staying over for an evening of video games and RPing. Not five minutes (seriously) after he left, I heard something coming from the direction of the fireplace that sounded like a screech or a scrape.
Well at first I thought it was coming from one of the shows on TV. A few moments later, though, I noticed the cats Patsy and Zorro sitting on the fireplace front staring into it. In years past this behavior has meant that a bird had fallen or flown down the chimney and wound up in the little space between the brick wall and the inner foundation. In fact, we have a hole dug into the brick wall (something like it anyway) where the birds would usually be able to get out and put a large metal slab over it (there�s one on the other side of the fireplace too).
So, thinking that it was probably another bird, I called up Mom at work to get some of her advice as to what I should do and she said that she would call up Rachel because she knows how to take the metal piece away from the hole.
In about ten minutes, Rachel came over and started taking a screwdriver to the metal piece. While she drove over, I had busied myself trying to find a net in our basement with which to capture whatever beast was in the fireplace and trying to lock the cats into the den. In the past, they�ve tried to jump up and catch the birds that fly out of the chimney.
After listening to the thing, Rachel began to suspect that it was a bat instead of a bird. That thought hadn�t occurred to me, but it made sense. It was far too late for birds to still be up and flying and the screeches sounded higher pitched and more frequent. We took the fishing net and put it in front of the crevice that was made between the metal piece and the section of wall with the hole. I went back down to the basement to find duct tape so that neither of us had to sit there holding the net.
We put the duct tape on it in such a way that the bat would probably get caught in the sticky part like a fly trap if it didn�t go into the net. At this point we figured it was probably safe to let the cats out of the den, because we were pretty sure that the bat was just going to safely fly into the net.
We watched Mythbusters while waiting for the thing to come out. About 20 minutes later, Rachel said she was tired and wanted to go home. After making sure that I would be all right dealing with the bat alone, she left. Apparently on the way home she called Mom, who then called me warning me to wear Dad�s thick fireplace gloves when trying to catch the bat through the net because bats bite and in her mind all animals who reside outdoors have rabies. I probably would have been fine with the situation had that little reminder not brought out my paranoid side. I waited for a little while until I heard something thump in the fireplace and looked over to discover that the bat (and indeed it was a small-looking hairy bat) was scrabbling around in the crevice behind the net.
I got up to open the front door to the outside so I could have quick access when releasing the bat and went to the closet to get one of Dad�s thick winter coats to protect my arms in case the bat tried to bite me there instead of through the gloves. I went back to the fireplace and, to my utter horror, saw that the bat was managing to squirm itself out through one of the larger holes of the fish net.
Thinking quickly (!) I tried to shove the bat back into the net, only succeeding in angering the thing, I�m sure. Finally after a moment it managed to squirm out the rest of the way, spread its wings, and took off flying around the room. Now here�s the thing about being raised riding roller coasters: my vocal chords are really strong and really high pitched.
Needless to say, when I realized that thing was free, I took off towards the stairs screaming loudly enough that I was pretty sure someone outside would think that I was being murdered or that the bat would think there was another bat in the room. I ran up the stairs and into Dad�s room, where I woke him up and gave him the brief, watered-down version of the bat, the net-trap, and the fact that there was now a gigantic bat soaring throughout the first floor.
Dad grunted and dragged himself out of bed to get dressed, whereupon I retreated to my bedroom to don a turtle-neck, a hat, and a pair of boots. My only thought process at the time was to cover up as much skin as possible.
In the hall, Dad was just getting to the stairwell, when suddenly I saw him drop to the floor. I looked up to see that the bat had flown up the stairwell, had circled around, and flown back down to the first floor. Of course, the prospect that the beast had probably scented me and had followed me was fresh in my mind so I screamed again, making Dad laugh.
He went down to take the dog outside so she would be out of the way while I tremblingly made my way down the stairs and peaked into the living room. Sure enough, the bat was still flapping around. Can I just say that a bat when flying is MUCH larger than when its wings are folded? That thing was probably about 8 inches in wingspan. Every time I caught a glimpse of it heading my way, I would scurry back up the stairs.
Dad came back in, leaving the door open in the hopes that the bat would find its way out on its own, but it seemed intent on staying in the living room. Still crouching, Dad went downstairs to get an insect net with smaller holes to catch the bat in. Meanwhile, I was stealthily going around, trying to gather up the cats and put them into different rooms so that none of them would get bitten.
Dad came up with the bug net and sat in the living room, waiting for the bat to fly low enough to catch it while I cowered on the stairs. I�m telling you, you might think that in these kinds of extreme situations, you�ll be cool and collected, but when it comes between getting bitten and getting rabies or screaming and cowering, well�
After a few tries, Dad amazingly caught the bat in mid flight and forced it to the ground. So we both sat there, wondering how best to get it to the door without it getting out again. I suggested using a magazine to cap off the net, but he said that it would just manage to squirm out again through any space it found. (Apparently bats are made of jelly!) Luckily, the bat went to the bottom of the net, where Dad was able to make a little pouch-prison around the bat. He took it outside and released it, fortunately obtaining no scars himself.
He went ahead and screwed the metal pieces back into the walls of the fireplace while I called Mom and told her that the ordeal was over. Tomorrow I�ll have to do some clean up around the fireplace from where some ashes were scattered, but it shouldn�t be too bad. I think it will provide a much needed distraction from the sheer psychological trauma I�ve developed over the past couple of weeks; from huge spiders to bats.
Kyle says all the good stuff happens after he leaves!!
8:59 p.m. - 2008-08-15
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