Metro to Mountain Journal

We went to visit our friend Ray for the Memorial Day weekend. Being an old friend of over twenty years, we have shared many life adventures. Sunday morning around the breakfast table he told me this tale...

I was really tired last night but after sleeping for awhile I awoke to a scrapping noise on or near one of the walls of the bedroom. The irritating noise continued until I had to get up and find out exactly what it was.

It was a bat in my bedroom. And not just a little bat, the wing span was over a foot (as he showed by hand gestures). Aroused by my presence the bat began to fly around in the room, clearing my head by just a few inches.

Wait a minute, how did the bat get in you room?

Oh, I had left the window open.

Was he swooping down at you?

No, he was just flying over my head. So I began to shoo him. I was trying to get him to go out the window he had entered.

Ray, how do you shoo a bat?

(He showed me his technique. Now, Ray is in his fifties like me. Somehow mentioning his age felt relevant. To me the shooing technique would have worked better for a cow than a bat.)

The shooing didn’t really work, but it did make the bat more active as he swooped through the bedroom. Then I tried to catch him in a tee shirt. (Ray demonstrated his bat catching technique - just in case I might need to acquire such a skill.)

Ray, I am a light sleeper and I always carry a small video camera with me. Anytime you are practicing bat eradication techniques in the middle of the night, come wake me.

(Ray gave a hardy laugh.)

So I didn’t catch him with the shirt, but I did get him moving in the right direction and he finally flew back out the window.

Did you shut the window?

No, I like sleeping with the window open....

Now personally I would have probably tried to shoo the bat, but maybe used a bit more protection (like a garbage can lid) to fend off the charges. And then once the bat was outside, I am sure I would have not only shut the window but I would have locked it tight!

My only regret was that he did not wake me. Not that I would have helped get rid of the bat, but so I could have filmed the midnight adventure.

Happy Memorial. Thanks to all those who have served our Nation.