Big. Brown. Bat.

[chowmama]

We had a visitor last night. It's mid-March in Minnesota. These critters should not be out and about yet.

DH has an extreme phobia about all rodents, including flying ones. That's ok, because I hate to deal with any insect life. I will if I have to, but not happily. He's also the only one in the house not vaccinated for rabies. (Vet tech, remember?) So, I got to deal with this problem.

I'm pretty sure it was a big brown, and not a juvenile. Biggest bat I've ever seen IRL. The wingspan was noticeably over 12" and we got to see a lot of it as it went whipping around the bedroom. (Why do they always go to the bedroom? It's a big house and it's not as if we have a lot of insects in there for them to eat.) I got DH, the dog and the cat out of the room and got the door closed to at least trap him there. Called a few places, but no bat control people were answering their phones. Leave a message? Are you kidding me? Like we're going to just live like this till Monday?

DH and the non-bat animals were now shut in the office. Fast Eddie the cat didn't want to be in there - he wanted to help - but I insisted. I got dressed up in what I hoped would be largely bat-proof gear - a heavy rubber hooded raincoat and winter boots. Worst case, I could just ball up and hide any exposed skin. Crawled in and got the window and storm open, giving him free access to the outdoors. By now, he was on a wall near the ceiling and at least not flying any more. And...he just stayed put. I sat on the floor and waited.

Time passed. Saturday Night Live passed - at least DH had left the TV going. The only thing that didn't pass was the damn bat. I bounced things off the wall near him. No response. It got plenty cold in there and it finally occurred to me that the cold might be making him shut down. So, I closed the furnace vent, too. It was apparent that he was going to make me actually handle him and I wanted him docile. Rabies booster, not my favorite.

I got a ladder, but really wasn't enthused about getting up there with something to put over him. So I called DH to bring me a broom and just pressed the flat part against him (him being the bat). The bat clung to it, I stuck it out the open window and shook it. Bye, bye, bat. Screw the storm, I just got the window slammed down as fast as I could.

I'm blaming climate change. I wish I thought I'd saved his life, but it's below freezing today. Even if it wasn't, there's nothing out there for him to eat; it's too early in the year.

I like bats. Damn it, this sucks! 

[ret5hd]

1. Game plan:

tonight, start stroking his neck, tell him how you have this strong desire to kiss his neck…you can’t explain it.

let us know what he says.

[MOMFUDSKI]

2. You did GOOD.

The bat will find his way. Bats eat a ton of bugs. I was getting in the pool one nite and a bat buzzed the top of my head and swooped down to skim across the pool. It was charming. You did good.

[chowmama]

3. Yeah, I've been buzzed, too.

I not only like bats, they seem to like me. It's weird. When I was about 13 or so, I was walking home from a neighborhood babysitting job at about 2AM - less than a three block walk. A bat started slowly circling me at shoulder level. I wasn't thrilled, but just kept walking slowly. This continued till I was on my block, when he flew away.

I'm not nuts enough to think that the bat had this in mind; I'm not sure what he had in mind. But it occurred to me years later that I was probably the safest person in town at that moment. Nobody was going to mess with me.

[MOMFUDSKI]

4. True

lol

[cbabe]

5. CATCH HIM DERRY/BAT DAD/BAT IN THE HOUSE

https://m.

[Ocelot II]

6. Just a quibble; bats aren't rodents. Whatever they are, even if it's cold they are better off outside

than in your house, where they'll just fly around and bang into walls and won't have anything to eat there, either.
It will probably find a place to shelter and be fine. There are some insects about; I've seen them. A bat got into my house once, and the cat caught it. He leapt up and swatted it right out of the air, then ran around the house with the flapping, squeaking bat in his mouth. I cornered him under a coffee table and poked at him (gently) with a newspaper until he got all hissy and dropped the bat, which I managed to scoop up in a shoe box and take outside. Cat was really unhappy with me. The bat was the coolest thing he'd ever caught and I took it away from him.

[rogerballard]

7. I have had 2 encounters, 2 separate apartments...

[somsai]

8. respect for bats

Might be long,, ,

Bats should be treated with respect as they carry many diseases besides rabies.

Bats are famous for rabies and indeed most positive cases of rabies originate with a dead bat. But that aint all. The closest virus to covid found in the wild is from bats in a mine shaft in Xipsongbana prefecture Yunnan. It's also thought to be a vector with Ebola. It's also thought that bats can carry a high viral load of different viruses without themselves becoming sick.

The inside of houses are not places bats just fly into looking for insects, more often than not one has wandered away from where it was roosting in an attic or eaves.

We have the highest house in the old part of town, and it has always had tons of bats in the attic due to old clapboards, a shake roof over spaced 1x12s, and a tin roof over that, eventually we've kept most bats out but it's a long battle involving a new roof and new siding and windows. I've talked to many pest control guys. When they group up in a wall or attic the urine and feces stink and can carry harmful viruses themselves.

Bats are wildlife and protected as such. We ignored those protections. Great neighbors, keep the bugs at bay, poor house guests, stinky and don't know when their welcome is worn out.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. Welcome to DU

[multigraincracker]

9. Find a long handle fish net at

a yard sale and keep it in the garage. Very handy for bats and other small critters that might bite you.