Sophie woke me up this morning at 3:00 by pawing me. When she does this it means one of two things. Either it is thundering and lightening outside or she has to potty. I scooted over and she jumped up on the bed. As she was settling in, Stormy started whining and barking downstairs. Once again either she was afraid an approaching storm or she needed to potty. Because of her arthritis and her fear of the hardwood floors, she needs assistance to get up the stairs. So I got out of bed and headed downstairs. By this time I realized that it wasn't storming, so I decided they both needed to go out. I let them out but they just stood on the porch and looked at me. So, I begrudgingly, walked out in the yard with them. Nothing spookier than to be outside in the middle of the night by yourself! Any ways, they potted and we went back in. As we were heading up the stairs, I was aware of the real problem. I heard the THA, THA, THA, THA, before I saw it. We had a bat in our belfry! Apparently there is now a third reason for pawing and whining in the middle of the night!
This is not our first bat. I'll never forget the first one we had. Once again we were jarred awake in the middle of the night by the sound of something circling our bed. Freeway, our first dog, was barking at the bat while Rick and I were trying to figure out what was going on. Finally it dawned on us what was happening. We grabbed the dog and scrambled under the covers. A discussion was held as to what we should do. Rick decided that Freeway and I should stay under the bedspread, and he would find something to kill the bat. So, my brave husband made his way into our walk-in closet and found his belt. He proceeded to put only his arm out of the door and would swing the belt at the bat when it would fly by! I have no idea how long it took, but eventually the bat fell from the sky! (Okay, we now know the importance of bats and no longer kill them. So, please don't call the SBA (Save the Bat Association) on us! ) After our little escapade, we found out remodeling and new construction will stir them up. They don't like the noise. Apparently it messes with their sonar equipment!
A few years later, Rick went to the NASCAR race in Michigan. I spent my first night home alone in 30 years. I have 7 siblings, so being home alone all night simply didn't happen. Well, you know where this is heading. It was like 1:00 in the morning I heard the familiar sound of THA, THA, THA, THA. I totally freaked out. I didn't know what to do. This was before cell phones, so I couldn't exactly call Rick. So, I did what any reasonable woman would do. I called the Sheriff's department. Okay...I'll wait until you are done laughing.......Done? So, the on duty cop answers the phone and asks what the problem is. My EXACT words were, "I have a bat in my house, what do I do?" He answers, "Ma'am, we don't do bats." And I responded with, "Well that's good because I didn't ask you to do the bat. I asked what should I do to get rid of the bat!" After he finished laughing, he told me to get it in one room, shut off all of the lights and open a window. It will eventually fly out. I thanked him with clenched teeth and hung up. I got the quilt off of the bed and draped it over myself. Just call me Harry Potter with my invisible cloak!!! I did what the nice copper told me to do and went back to bed. Woke up the next morning, went to my sewing room and looked in. There on the valance was the damn bat! Apparently I was given wrong advice. If you ever had bat what you do is turn the lights ON, not off! The intruder will go towards the darkness and hopefully fly out the window.
Well, this morning I screamed when the darn thing flew over head. The dogs started barking and Rick woke up. He asked what is going on, and I told him we had another bat in the house. This was the second one in less than 2 weeks! (I slept through the last one!!!!) It was like deja vu. The darn thing decided to hang out in my sewing room. I turned the lights on, opened the window and closed the door. I headed back to bed. At this point, Rick is up. I told him what I did and said good night. He went and watched it fly around the room for a while. (We have glass doors so you can see everything). After a few minutes he decided to physical remove it. He has captured many bats over the years and now has it down to a science! He went to the garage and got his huge fishing net. Within 5 minutes he had caught it and released it outside.
As you can see, my personal Batman has come a long way since that first bat 25 years ago. He went from annihilate the sucker to catch and release! It's so nice to know that I have super hero in house. You never know when the next bat will attack!
Make Every Day Count
Denise
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