I just saved a bat

[ptpgrad]

the flappy kind...how very odd...

I came home a few minutes ago and my neighbor is walking around in pj's with her baby, barefoot. She is crying cause a bat got into her room and is in her bathoorm
she was scared and ran out of the house with the baby. She was just was just wandering the neighborhood and asked me if I could help. I put my stuff in my house and went over, got a broom and went upstairs.

I went in, opened a window, found the little guy curled up in the tub looking scared and small, maybe 2 inches long, 5-7 expanded when he tried to fly. I took the trashcan in the bathroom without the liner (clean), and a flap piece of paper to scoop him up. He tried to slide out, but realized I was picking him up and went in. He squeaked,ya know the sonar squeaks, as I walked him to the window and let him free. He flew out on his own.

Then I put the screen back in the window and closed it up. She was happy, but I was even more happy I could save the bat. He was REALLY cute. VERY tiny, might have been a baby


What a nice way to end the night

Comments

[sestree.livejournal.com]

How cool ! What a nice thing to do.

I have been surprised at the number of people who have had bats in their houses this year. Maybe it happened before and I was oblivious or something.

I grew up with bats so I think they're rather neat.

[weered1.livejournal.com]

Aw, it sounded so cute from your description. Way to go for saving it. AND they eat mosquitos! :)

[wildwose.livejournal.com]

Leah and I used to work for a big furniture painting company. Big warehouse type environment. Many of the so called Mngmt types were meatheads. Large male monkey type guys. One day a Bat got into the building. Pretty sure it was a Big Brown Bat. (yes, that is its technical name...seriously).

So my Meathead Manager (also technical name) proceeded to get a broom and other things to swat and smash, attempting to kill said bat. I noting this said, in very loud, submissiveness employee type voice, "Hey Man, Stop that Shit!" This ofcourse pissed off mister Meathead, him proceeding to yell at me that I couldn't talk to him that way, etc. I proceeded to yell back that killing a Bat, any bat, in the state of Maryland was ILLEGAL, and I would note it if he proceeded......this shut him up.

I then carefully assembled dust cloth, small broom and ladder to remove the terrified little brother from a crevice, and usher him safely out the door, saving the company the money of calling pest control to trap it, and saving the bat the experience.

Later, the Meatheads thought it funny to refer to me as "Batman" or "Batboy", they thought they were being insulting. I thought they were Meatheads, and got several Batman tee-shirts to wear to work.

Lots of Love,
Batboy

[thalionar.livejournal.com]

you are made of awesome :)

[faireraven.livejournal.com]

That's just awesome...

I've never had to remove a bat from the house. In fact, since getting our house I haven't had to remove anything except the occasional summer fly issue (dammit, ever summer they manage to squeeze in through the sides of the screens, used to happen at my parents' house too).

But when I lived with my parents, I had to remove all kinds of animals... Usually mice (did that with a hav-a-heart trap, though), but also several birds and squirrels... Although one time we got a nasty shock with a squirrel, it had managed to get into the house, find it's way into the bathroom, tried to get a drink out of the toilet, managed to knock the lid down, and drowned itself. EEP!

Oh, and I had to get my hamster out of the baseboard heating once. He'd gotten out of the cage and decided it was warm in there... We had to use a pair of dirty socks to chase him out from either end...

Bats, though? Never had to... But they really are cute!

[dawntreader]

a co-worker of mine saved a bat that had somehow gotten into our conference room. we are on the second floor with no open windows! i have no clue how it managed to get inside our building this far.

but yeah, some people wanted to kill it and she stuck up for it and saved it.

just like ptpgrad described, it's like they know who is trying to help. my friend went in with a big empty plastic jar and all but calmly asked it to please crawl inside and she'd take it outside. no problem. everyone else would get close and the thing would move away again. it was weird.

[ptpgrad]

Yeah, he saw me and just sat there. I talked to him, cooed to him in a soft voice, assured him I would take care of him and get him out of the weird place. Was really calm. The bat REALLY responded well to it. I am sure he wasn't happy in a white bathroom, but at least that room was darker than the bedroom with all the lights on.

[thalionar.livejournal.com]

in college, a group of us managed to live on the same floor (the same *exact* floor, of the same building) for 3 years (I don't know about beyond that) because of the way we were able to pick rooms each year.

I became the unofficial "pest" control. I rescued (and sometimes killed) spiders, crickets, moths, beetles, and once, a very tiny, very cute bat by putting on a leather work glove and very very gently removing it from where it perched on the edge of a bulletin board.

[faireraven.livejournal.com]

Yay! I like bats, they're cute... Then again, I think most rodents are cute... *chuckle*

They eat bugs. I like bats. :)

Yay for getting him out of her home and back into his! :)

Very Cool!

[rennfoole.livejournal.com]

I always like a good "save the animal" story! It made me feel good that you were able to placate the human and do a very good deed for the poor, obviously confused and frightened, little bat.

Three cheers for you!!!

[thewhitedragon.livejournal.com]

Bats get a very bad rep... they're actually very beautiful things.

[tchwrtr.livejournal.com]

Every year I debate getting a bat house for our house--even have the spot picked out.

And every year I don't do it.

Maybe this fall, or next spring.

[missourimarmot.livejournal.com]

That's bat-tastic! Thanks for sharing.

It's quite saddening, though, to realize how many people seem to possess the "it's strange and therefore threatening; it must be killed immediately" attitude. Thanks for being one of the rest of us.

Btw, I too have been tarred with the epithet "Batman," though it was actually meant affectionately.