One of the quirks about living in an old house out in the country is that occasionally, the wildlife decides to pay a visit. From rat snakes on the sideboard to wolf spiders in the bathtub, we've had our share of visitations.
Last night was no exception.
At 12:30am, I awoke to the feel of something flying around in my room. It flew so close to my body that I felt the whoosh of its wings as it passed. I opened my eyes (I was half-awake at the time) and lay in bed for a minute or two, trying to decide if it had been a dream... or not.
Ten minutes later, the thing swooped again. It was no dream.
It only took me a moment to realize what it had to be. There are only so many animals that fly around in the dark, after all. And while I wasn't particularly frightened, I had to figure out how to get it out of the house before it flew into my sister's room (Ethan was at home last night.)
Yes, it was a bat.
So I lay very still and listened for its approach, but heard nothing. Had it gone back downstairs? Or maybe into someone else's room?
Being the nice sister that I am, I decided to wake up Jessica. "Jess! I need your help!"
"What?" (She must not have been very deeply asleep.)
"There's a bat flying around up here. I need you to turn on your light." (When a bat is loose in the house, the easiest way to find it is to turn on a light. It will gravitate towards the light and fly around it.)
So Jess turned on her light. Nothing happened. The bat did not appear. After a moment, I had her turn on my bathroom light, and then I got out of bed. Obviously, our nocturnal visitor had gone elsewhere.
It was now 12:40am. And I had to get up early for work. And last night, we spent four hours helping sort and price stuff for the rummage sale on Saturday, so I was a bit tired. (I didn't get home until 10:30pm.)
But I couldn't leave a bat in the house for Bekah and Mom to take care of.
So, after some grumbling, Jess and I became intrepid bat hunters with the aid of a flashlight and much stealth. We closed the door that leads from our rooms into the hallway, and I crept halfway down the stairs. It only took a moment for the bat to make an appearance--it was flying in a circle through the kitchen, big dining room, hallway, living room, and little dining room, and obviously attracted by the wizard lamp at the foot of the stairs.
So I sat halfway down the stairs and tried to figure out what to do. The only thing I could think of that might work would be to open the door and turn on the porch light (and turn out all the other lights) and hope it took the bait and flew outside.
Since the front door is rarely open, I was staring right at it and not realizing that we could open that door instead of the back door, but Jessica was thankfully quicker on the uptake. When I mentioned my idea, she suggested we open the front door and that's what we did.
By then, we hadn't seen the bat for five or so minutes, so I took my trusty flashlight and went in search of it while Jessica held open the front door.
Before that, Jess did wake up Mom and tell her what was going on, and she also closed all the bedroom doors so the bat wouldn't have as many places to go. (Dad's in Alabama, so he missed the whole thing.)
Well, it flew behind me and showed up after I turned on the little dining room light. Almost immediately, it flew outside... then flew right back in before we could blink. Then it proceeded to fly in ever-lowering circles around and around and around (and getting closer and closer to our heads (I wore a hat for that point exactly), getting closer and closer to the door.
By the time it flew out, it was skimming the ground by about four inches.
We waited for a moment to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, and then closed the door, locked it, and went back to bed.
I'm a bit tired this morning.
Last night was no exception.
At 12:30am, I awoke to the feel of something flying around in my room. It flew so close to my body that I felt the whoosh of its wings as it passed. I opened my eyes (I was half-awake at the time) and lay in bed for a minute or two, trying to decide if it had been a dream... or not.
Ten minutes later, the thing swooped again. It was no dream.
It only took me a moment to realize what it had to be. There are only so many animals that fly around in the dark, after all. And while I wasn't particularly frightened, I had to figure out how to get it out of the house before it flew into my sister's room (Ethan was at home last night.)
Yes, it was a bat.
So I lay very still and listened for its approach, but heard nothing. Had it gone back downstairs? Or maybe into someone else's room?
Being the nice sister that I am, I decided to wake up Jessica. "Jess! I need your help!"
"What?" (She must not have been very deeply asleep.)
"There's a bat flying around up here. I need you to turn on your light." (When a bat is loose in the house, the easiest way to find it is to turn on a light. It will gravitate towards the light and fly around it.)
So Jess turned on her light. Nothing happened. The bat did not appear. After a moment, I had her turn on my bathroom light, and then I got out of bed. Obviously, our nocturnal visitor had gone elsewhere.
It was now 12:40am. And I had to get up early for work. And last night, we spent four hours helping sort and price stuff for the rummage sale on Saturday, so I was a bit tired. (I didn't get home until 10:30pm.)
But I couldn't leave a bat in the house for Bekah and Mom to take care of.
So, after some grumbling, Jess and I became intrepid bat hunters with the aid of a flashlight and much stealth. We closed the door that leads from our rooms into the hallway, and I crept halfway down the stairs. It only took a moment for the bat to make an appearance--it was flying in a circle through the kitchen, big dining room, hallway, living room, and little dining room, and obviously attracted by the wizard lamp at the foot of the stairs.
So I sat halfway down the stairs and tried to figure out what to do. The only thing I could think of that might work would be to open the door and turn on the porch light (and turn out all the other lights) and hope it took the bait and flew outside.
Since the front door is rarely open, I was staring right at it and not realizing that we could open that door instead of the back door, but Jessica was thankfully quicker on the uptake. When I mentioned my idea, she suggested we open the front door and that's what we did.
By then, we hadn't seen the bat for five or so minutes, so I took my trusty flashlight and went in search of it while Jessica held open the front door.
Before that, Jess did wake up Mom and tell her what was going on, and she also closed all the bedroom doors so the bat wouldn't have as many places to go. (Dad's in Alabama, so he missed the whole thing.)
Well, it flew behind me and showed up after I turned on the little dining room light. Almost immediately, it flew outside... then flew right back in before we could blink. Then it proceeded to fly in ever-lowering circles around and around and around (and getting closer and closer to our heads (I wore a hat for that point exactly), getting closer and closer to the door.
By the time it flew out, it was skimming the ground by about four inches.
We waited for a moment to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, and then closed the door, locked it, and went back to bed.
I'm a bit tired this morning.
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