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Monday, Apr. 10, 2006 - 8:59 p.m. I woke at 3 am this morning, convinced that another bat had made it into the house. Didn�t see or hear one, mind you- I just woke up sure that one had entered the forbidden fly zone. The fact that Jay-dog woke up with a start right after I did added to my dread. So�. I got up, took him and the Old Guy out of the bedroom, closed the door, and turned on every light as I headed downstairs and outside. Nothing. No sounds, no dive bombing flying mousse. Just a quiet house at sleep. All except me- for whatever reason, I couldn�t fall back asleep. I tossed and turned until the alarm went of for Lease�s time, and then again for the 1+ hours until my alarm kicked on at 5:40. Probably just a bad (or weird) dream that woke me up with the feeling of dread. Maybe� Speaking of the bats: About an hour ago, I took Jay-dog outside. While out there, I decided to re-bait the tree rat trap with fresh peanut butter. After catching 3 in 4 days, I haven�t had any luck for the past week or so. Did have to let a couple of ground squirrels go (or maybe the same one twice). The trap has been tripped a couple other times. Nothing inside- just a closed door. Don�t know what causes those. Maybe a squirrel climbing on top of the trap? Anyway�. When I walked over to the trap, I heard the unmistakable sound of a bat, clicking at me. They do this to warn the others in their colony that trouble is near. Where was the sound coming from? The crack between the chimney and the overhang of the roof. Dragging the hose over t the highest possible spot, I unleashed a tight stream of cold water at the crack. One bat fell straight down from the opening, landing with a thud on the rooftop of our side porch. Never got up and flew away, too. Maybe a heart attack for the sentry of the colony? Don�t know, but I�m pretty sure he is still on his back in the corner of the rooftop. I shot the water for about a minute into the crack, but nothing else came out. Once the water stopped dripping, I could swear I heard faint clicking, coming from the opening. I went back inside long enough o bring the laundry upstairs for Lease, and then returned to my battle station. It was almost dark by this time, so I figured they might be ready to take flight. I was right. A total of 6 full-sized Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) took flight, one at a time, as my hose hit their hiding place. Each received a steady stream of water as they flew over my head. Yes, I ended up wet, too. Hopefully, this will be enough to get them to relocate elsewhere. I really don�t want to harm them. I just don�t want to have to deal with them inside of the house, that�s all. Here is some interesting facts about this species. I copied and pasted this info from a bat management site from a company that sells roosting homes and such for bats. They are out of Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania's most common bat, the little brown is found statewide. Length, including tail, is 3.1-3.7 inches; wingspread, 8.6-10.5 inches; weight ranges from 0.25-0.35 ounces, and is greatest just before hibernation. Females are slightly larger than males. Color: a rich brown approaching bronze, usually with a dark spot on the shoulders. The fur is dense, fine, and glossy; the wings are black and bare. So if I�m reading this right, only females group together in large numbers. And they shouldn�t have had their young just yet. Yep- now is the time to get them relocated. Also explains the stray smaller bat we found residing on the siding of the neighbor�s house, or on the back patio sleeping in a potted plant in the dark side of the house. The good news? They aren�t endangered. Plentiful is how they are described on another site. And a 25 year lifespan? No wonder they come back here, year after year. Still makes you wonder about why they occasionally find their way into the house. Why would they even want to come into a (mostly) well lit area, when there are so many darker areas they could hide in instead? Oh well- hopefully, we won�t have to contend with the insiders any more this summer. The city came down our street today, indiscriminately chopping branches off of every tree. They really butchered my one remaining Ash tree. They took every low-hanging branch off at the trunk, leaving what looks like a broccoli bunch from the produce section behind. Really hacked it up. Took all of the character out of the poor old tree. Nothing I can do about it- they own the median between the sidewalk and the road, so they have the right to do whatever they want with their trees. Learned that earlier this year, when they took the other Ash down to the ground. I�ll post a photo of it tomorrow, if I have time to take one�. One last thing: Someone is always selling something on Ebay with (what they think is) The Virgin Mary or Jesus on it. A cheese toasty, a potatoes chip, a rock found on the beach. Make plenty of cash from them, too. So I guess it was only time before Satan got in on the action:
Hey- at least this seller is donating the money to charity. Can�t be all bad, can it? Pretty evil looking lemon (IMHO). Long entry today. If you made it all the way to the bottom, you get a gold star for they day�.
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