Ballad of the Bat

Brave Shadow awoke us, late in the night,
A noise in our bathroom had caused quite a fright.

I crawled from my covers, numb as a log,
And groaned, "What the devil is wrong with my dog?"


I crept to our loo with my mini-flashlight
And confronted a highly unusual sight.

By the tub stood the watchdog, and wow, was she freaked!
When I peered inside, I nervously shrieked.

(I screamed, says my spouse, who lay snuggled in bed,
Convinced that yours truly was out of her head.)

Called he from the next room, "Good grief, what is that?"
"It's Myotis lucifugus--a Little Brown Bat!"

My camera I grabbed to record this weird scene,
then assisted my husband, so calm and serene.

Scooping up Bat, out the window he throws it--
A successful release, and now everyone knows it.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had some moments of panic and pandemonium, but my latest bat encounter had a happy ending!

This week we've had repair work done on our chimney, and the glass doors of our bedroom fireplace insert had been left open. We assume the Little Brown Bat flew down and decided to explore.

It was a lively little critter, and seemed to enjoy climbing up the handle of a plunger. Our Jacuzzi tub is very big and deep--and at the moment, filled with houseplants, so we didn't have a lot of room to maneuvre.




The tools of the rescue were an empty flowerpot and a towel and a piece of cardboard. The process was way too complicated to explain in verse.


After a lifetime of no bat sightings, I've had two in the past month. And both involved bathtubs!