Eek and Ick...

I do like small animals. Honest.  I am especially fond of dogs and cats and have even cared for and enjoyed turtles, wild baby bunnies that one of our Boxers brought home, fish, and even a smelly little hamster named Messy Marvin II. In contrast, I do not like unexpected encounters with mice and snakes because they startle me, and... I must confess that I do not like bats at all. I strongly dislike them. (My grand-kids have told me more than once that "we do not hate things.") Okay -- but... bats make my skin crawl.  Not only do they startle me, but they are creepy looking with those little rubbery claw-like feet and legs and -- they hang upside down.  Seriously....

I write unkind words about bats with the hope that the bat conservation people will not take a strong dislike to me, although I doubt that they would send any bats to me or anything.  Right?  They wouldn't, would they? No -- surely not. Right?  I know that they are serious people who take care of strays and I do hope that they can continue their work for those who would like to donate to the care of, to adopt, or to buy a bat. Actually I have even thought about buying bat houses myself so that I could lure the bats away from my barn and house. I may still do that. I know that bats are a good thing.  They eat insects. I like that about them --- really. That's wonderful -- I challenge you to find one single mosquito in my entire yard.  It's not personal -- really. Bats just unnerve me. For one thing -- they swoop. 

I first became aware of my "feelings" for bats when I suddenly spied one hanging from the wood ceiling of my sun-room a couple of summers ago. I was standing only a few feet away talking on the phone. It had invaded my territory. Between you and me, I freaked a bit and then when I realized that no one was going to come to my rescue -- that I would have to deal with it myself,  I donned garden gloves, a long-sleeved flannel shirt, heavy jeans, work boots, safety glasses and a hat, -- and -- sucked that mosquito eater up into the vacuum cleaner lickety split. I then pushed the vacuum outside while it was still running-- just in case the bat was angry with me and somehow broke loose. Later on -- I dragged the vacuum cleaner into my pasture before changing the bag and burning the old one.  I am telling you, it was a majorly scary experience for me, and... I have not felt quite the same way about that sweeper since then. 

Then -- a couple of weeks ago on a cold, windy, snowy day I realized that I needed to restock the wood pile in my garage, so off I went to my barn where I store firewood along side of my tractor, brush hog and my neighbor's golf cart.  You guessed it -- I found a lethargic bat in the middle of my rack of dry wood.  I picked up that log to get a closer look, and it just hung there with those little rubbery feet.  I am thankful that its head was tucked neatly under one of those wings or I may have screamed it out of hibernation or whatever it was doing there.  Needless to say I set that log aside -- hopefully the bat found a better place to "rest".  Anyone out there have an unoccupied belfry that needs a bat? Anyway -- when I left the barn it appeared to be stretching and to be a little confused as to its whereabouts. (Good thing I don't have a vacuum cleaner in my barn.) Anyway -- I always wear gloves when moving wood.  From now on I may wear safety glasses as well.      Eek and Ick....