Posts Tagged ‘bats’
Summer Reality
Even though the lake home is a luxurious 12-inch cedar log structure with spacious rooms, large sleeping capacity, and more bathrooms than I care to admit, it is not immune to the problems that have plagued most anyone who has spent a lot of time up at a cabin.
What story does this photo reveal to you? If you know, you know.
The accessories decorating Cyndie’s and my loft bedroom at the lake place this week reflect the kind of sleep we have been getting the last few nights.
The first time I noticed it, I assumed Cyndie was sleeping through the odd pings, tings, knocked things, and flapping wing sounds I was picking up. I guessed it was a bat, but preferred to prioritize my sleep and let it have its fun. In no time, I was dreaming that I had picked up my cell phone, turned on the light to see a bat wrapped in a curtain that Cyndie handed to me. I proceeded to try “dispatching” the pest, but it merely folded over harmlessly in the dream.
Upon waking in the morning, I figured out I had dreamed the interaction, but Cyndie confirmed she had heard the bat, too, so that part was real.
The next night, I was startled awake from a wonderfully deep sleep by the blast of a very bright light over our bed. Cyndie reported it was the bat again. This time, she couldn’t ignore it because she felt something hit her, which is why she turned on the light. There was a bat turd on the sheets.
When she retold this story to Julian the next morning, he seamlessly responded, “That makes it official: you are batshit crazy.”
Cyndie and I clumsily flailed after the flying mouse until it disappeared into our attached bathroom. I suggested Cyndie close the door, and we both lay back down to sleep. Just then, a screech owl call pierced the quiet and echoed in the trees outside the window.
After assembling the collection of tools that can be seen in the photo above, we both slept soundly through the entire night on Wednesday. It’s difficult to know whether that meant there was no bat in flight or we had gotten used to the flapping enough that it no longer interrupted our slumber.
In reference to a bigger picture, I am feeling more sad about my country than ever before this US Independence Day. Enough said.
Send extra love out into the world, hug those you hold dear, and give someone you don’t know a big smile to brighten their day.
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Wild Interlopers
Lately, for some yet-to-be-determined reason, we have been experiencing a distinct increase in uninvited wild visitors, some of whom seem interested in establishing residency. Some of them are cute and for the most part harmless, like the five young deer Cyndie spotted grazing in the back pasture last night.
Some are, unfortunately, all too familiar, like the mice and bats that Pequenita seems to view as mere house playmates for her ongoing enjoyment.
There are, as noted in two other recent posts, a family of raccoons and a suspected woodchuck making their presence known in broad daylight on separate occasions.
Yesterday morning, Cyndie sent me a picture looking out the egress window of the basement bedroom revealing a large mound of soil tossed up by one of several possible burrowing pests.
I’m leaning toward the woodchuck, based on the size of the excavation.
When I got home to see for myself, there were two frogs peering in the window from the top of the pile, and a mole napping off to the side.
My adventurous spirit is at a low ebb and I am struggling to muster any interest whatsoever in addressing even one of these wild animal pests, let alone all of them. Sadly, neglecting to deal with them now offers nothing but greater complications later. I’d rather not admit that it crossed my mind that we could simply sell the place, as is, and let the buyers deal with the pests.
Or, we could throw money at the problem and hopefully find a professional who is genuinely interested in tackling the challenges. I wonder if it would be possible to trap both a woodchuck and some raccoons at the same time?
I will happily watch the critters be driven down our driveway and off into the sunset for relocation at some magical forest that is over 25 miles away from everywhere, where all pest control companies release their captives to live out pesky lives in blissful harmony.
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Evening Excitement
There was a little excitement in the Wintervale house last night, after Cyndie and I got back from working on the labyrinth garden. Actually, Cyndie was still down watering the plants when Delilah and I came back to the house. I was getting ready to shower and spotted a bat flying circles around our spiral staircase. I turned on some lights hoping I could keep an eye on him, and stepped into the garage to grab a broom.
The cats were visibly interested, but basically useless as predators. I thought it was going to be up to me, except the bat had landed and was now out of sight. Since Delilah appeared to be totally focused on her food and water, I decided to get the shower out of the way. When I came out, I heard Delilah’s bark and figured the bat was airborne again. Cyndie had returned and figured out there was a bat, so I pointed out the broom, and reported sighting the critter perched on a beam.
Cyndie took over from there, drawing on her years of experience evicting bats from the cabins over the years at the lake place up in Hayward. She grabbed a small step-ladder, and conked him to the floor. By this time, Pequenita was showing interest in finishing him off, but Cyndie would have none of that, and bagged the remains for disposal.
Order was restored. The labyrinth continues to gain definition, and we again filled every last moment of the day. Before the sun got too low, I walked the trail we worked to clear on Monday, hoping to get some better pictures with my camera, instead of my cell phone. Here are a few…
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Relative Something 