Ok, this is getting irritating

[steuard]

Kim just woke up to the disturbing feeling of a bat (herein labeled Bat #2) brushing past her arm as it circled the room. We turned on a light, but by the time we'd formulated a plan it had disappeared. Had it decided to roost somewhere because of the light? Had it squeezed out of the room the same way it got in? We're still not sure: we were complete cowards when it was actively swooping past us around the room so we didn't watch everywhere it went (especially when it was swooping low to the ground) and a fairly thorough search of likely roosting places turned up nothing.

Once we started searching the rest of the house, Kim spotted a swooping bat by the side door. (I'd already turned on lights throughout the main floor, but it was still dark there.) I managed to thwack it with a tennis racket, leaving it dead or very stunned, and we stuck it in a covered trash can. Occam's razor suggested that we'd found Bat #2, so we started to relax.

But then, Kim happened to see two more bats roosting behind the blinds in our breakfast nook. I've now grabbed those (using the earlier "towel and gloves" procedure) and stuck them in a cooler. (They don't sound happy.) But having found those, we now have no idea whether Bat #2 is still in our bedroom somewhere, waiting for the lights to go out.

Sweet dreams.

Comments

[steuard.livejournal.com]

Exterminator?

We've arranged for an animal control guy to thoroughly assess the house later this week; apparently he's very busy with bat issues this time of year, so he probably won't make it here until Wednesday. Once he locates all the possible entry points to the house, his recommendation is to seal all but a couple of them and then put traps on the ones that remain (to catch any bats that might still be in the house).

In general, we quite like having bats in the neighborhood: they eat their body weight in insects every night. But having them in the house is startling and (due to rabies worries) scary. We'll get the three we captured tested for rabies first thing Monday morning. Fun.

One saving grace, I guess: we don't have kids yet. I think I'd be bordering on frantic if a child of mine might have been exposed. So it's good to be sealing up the house now rather than later.

Thanks for the good wishes!

[silentmonster.livejournal.com]

Wow, that sounds awful. Good luck with the bat guy.

[beth_leonard]

Ick! Oh the joys of home ownership.

Good luck!
--Beth

[steuard.livejournal.com]

Ok, we've all got to agree that when our kids are old enough that they need to know, we'll tell them about the bats and the bees.

[beth_leonard]

LOL!
--Beth