from the belfry

City kid just her her first bat invasion. It's now 4:38. The saga began about an hour ago when I awoke to an unusual noise in my room. I thought one of the cats was playing with something. But it didn't fit their usual play sound patterns. And that's when I saw it: a bat. It swooped over my head. The noises were it bouncing against the window screens. Otherwise bats fly silently. Did you know that? Not even a wing-flap.

I don't know how long this had been going on. Sasha cat, my constant sleeping companion was long gone. So no protection there. I've experienced bats in the house before - Groundnut Hill had one from time to time, but I've never been woken from sleep and buzzed. So what does city kid do when it's just her and a bat in an enormous house? She hides under the blankets and Googles bat removal of course. She reacts to a new emergency by researching it! Now if THAT doesn't prove I'm a geek, I don't know what will. My research informed me that if you awaken to a bat in your room, you should be concerned about having been bitten. Bites are very small, can go unnoticed, and can be rabid. How long had the bat been in my room? I don't know.

My first thought was: bat bite... rabies! My second thought was: bat bite... super bat powers! Seriously. So now I'm a geek and a dork.

So, while tucked away under the covers, relishing the false sense of security it afforded, I phoned the local police as nonchalantly as possible. Hey... it might have had rabies! I asked if there had been any rabies reports from bat bites locally. She had no idea but offered to send an officer to help me get rid of it. "Oh, gosh. That would be great if you could do that," I said. "Jackpot!" I thought.

Officer H., one of St. Collegetown's finest, arrived in a few minutes. We did a room-to-room search and found nothing. I'd opened the window in my bedroom before I went downstairs, and he said the bat probably went out it. Probably. He said 75% of the time that's what they do. What about the other 25%? Officer H. (and the bat as far as I can tell) were gone in less than an hour.

And now, here I sit in my living room, waiting to be tired enough to fall back asleep again.

Why did it have to pick my bedroom? I've got a million rooms in this house and it had to pick the one that I was sleeping in. Honestly! I like bats. I think they're cute, and really cool. They do a wonderful service by eating mosquitoes and other insects. As a youngster I used to toss rocks in front of them to see them dodge it with their sonar. So cool. And best enjoyed outdoors.

I think it really is gone. Or maybe I'm just too tired to care. Super bat powers would be cool.