Bats in the Belfry

I still set a place for Ray at the table when I have company over. It’s totally unconscious. I add up the amount of guests plus one. Then when everyone sits down and there’s an extra spot, well, it’s a little awkward.

We’re in that gentle transition between summer and autumn. The nights and early mornings are just a little bit cooler. It’s dark now when I get up and I have to turn on the lights. I close the blinds earlier in the evening now. The air isn’t as humid.

Oh, we’ll still have some hot days, but we’re definitely moving towards fall.

The Minnesota State Fair starts on Thursday. I stopped off at Cub Foods this morning and bought discounted tickets to save a few extra dollars.

There’s an angry cardinal outside my door. It hasn’t stopped chirping for over a half hour or so. There are lots of hummingbirds around, too. I‘ve seen them in my garden and my neighbor’s garden as well as at my hummingbird feeder.

I saw a bald eagle soaring over my house yesterday just hanging in the wind vents. I live close to the river.

The highlight of my week was . . . On Thursday night, I was going to bed. Before I turned the light on in my room, I noticed something flying around. It was too big for a bird, so I knew it was a bat.

I didn’t scream or anything, but backed out of the room, and called Joe. I was laughing when I was telling him about the bat, but he didn’t think it was funny.

While we were talking, I went back into the bedroom and turned off the ceiling fan, which was probably driving him nuts, got the dogs out, and shut the door.

Joe came over. While I was waiting for him, I went online and looked up how to catch bats. The recommended way is to use gloves, a bucket with a lid, and keep the bat alive, if possible.

Well, Joe took a broom and beat the crap out of the poor bat. We put it in a garbage bag.

I started reading more about bats the next day at work, and even though very few bats are rabid, I thought it might be a good idea to get it tested for rabies.

We fished the bat out of the garbage and took it to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Lab to have it tested for rabies. It was NOT rabid.

I called a bat exclusion expert and he told me watch my house at night to see if there are more bats leaving the house. I know that poor little bat was just trying to find a way out of my house that night. I haven’t seen any other bats or signs of bats, but I’m keeping vigilant. I sure don’t want my house to become a bat colony.