Anyone Got A Spare Belfry?
Jul. 30th, 2008 01:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torraSo....yah, that was a little adventure last night.
I was watching the S3 premeair of Eureka, when I heard Joe shout something panic-laden in the hallway. I rushed out to see what had happend, and he started shouting at me to "get back inside, close the door!" So I did, with the first thought of "OMG, Nerve Gas?!" ::facepalm:: I'm such a geek and over-imaginitive reader.
I shouted out, "What's wrong?", of course, and he (rather calmly considering how freeked he was) explained that we had bats in the house.
I proceeded to start laughing my ass off.
I went out into the hallway (quite calmly), as did Mom (also calm), to get more info (Dad was still quite freeked and kept trying to tell us to get back inside).
Now, you've gotta understand, we have bats around us at all times. They've been roosting in our chimney ever since we converted our woodstove into a gas stove about 10 to 13 years ago (forget exactly how long). We had bats before that, but only a few who'd roost in the shadow between the chimeny and the house, but once we closed off the flue, we got dozens calling the inside of the chimneh itself home. So I grew up around bats. Had bats at the house I spent my early yeas in, too, because it was on a "lake" (Climax Lake, which was really just a pond with a huge ego). So the idea of bats inside didn't freek me out, other then the fact that we have had signs of rabbid bats amongst the group in years past.
Scoping the place out, we found the first one hanging from the now empty curten rod in the livingroom. That one was pretty easy to get out, dad raeched over to the screen beneith it (which REALLY freeked him out, but he wouldn't let Mom or I do it), and poped the screen out and used it and a handy broom to sweep him off the rod and out the window.
He thought he'd seen two more, but thought one had maybe gotten outside while the door was open (how he thought they got in at the time), so we were just looking for one. Looking around the house, we realised that, hay, we curently have a whole section of wall missing where we took out the pitcutre window and made that the new front door, which meens we have huge hole leading directly into the attic space, which is in turn, connected to the chimeny. Huummmm.
So that's the curent belief of how they got in, crawling though the attic. Mom desided to pin a tablecloth over the hole, and stuff the remaining gaps with pillows. When I went to enter the kitchen to get more pushpins, I found the second bat on the floor.
The first bat was clearly healthy, so I wasn't worried about either rabies or plague, but this one was flat on the floor, crawling around, instead of flying. BIIIIIIGG bat danger warning sign right there. Bats with end-stage rabbies loose their ablitiy to fly well, and offten fall to the ground and crawl around.
That startled me, but didn't really freek me. But I freeked it out, and it crawled under the dishwasher. Dad tried to take the chance to get though the kitchen to open that window and pull the screen out...
That's when he saw the one in the sink. ::snickers:: Talk about freek out! He didn't scream or squeek or anything so un-manly, but boy did he jump! ::laughing::
The one in the sink was trickey, the walls of the sink were too high for him to climb out, and there was a bowl full of water inside the sink, and we didn't have any gloves to reach in and safely pull him out.
That beguan a whole, very amusing process of the three of us trying to get him out. Finaly I just had to reach in (carefuly, he was very aggitated) and pull the bowl. The poor bat was pretty soaked by that point, because we'd sloshed a fair bit of the water into the sink trying to get him with the broom.
Dad and Mom both had screens from the windows and were using them as sheilds, and I had the broom. Once we got the bowl out, I put the broom back into the sink, and encuraged him to crawl up onto it. Which he did almsot imideatly, once the bowl was gone. As soon as he crawled up, I just moved him out the window, and gave the broom a shake and he flew off. No big.
Mind you, the whole time we're doing this, we still have the one that's possibly sick at our feet, and Mom and I were both barefoot. Liiitle nurvewracking there.
We then proceded to try to get that one out, which was less amusing this time, and more a comidy of "aww, damn."
Long story shorter, that didn't like the broom idea, and instead ended up running away from the broom and figuring out how to crawl behind the dishwasher. No way to get him out easily. I tapped the whole area off while Dad tried to call animal controle. Turns out animal controle only gets involved after someone has been bit, and only then to catch the bat to test it for rabies.
Since we couldn't get him out, we got back to work on house repairs, until I heard him start to try crawling out from behind the cubbords again and desided we could give this another go. I pulled all the tape off I'd put to block all the cracks, and instead taped one of the screens over the area instead, using tape to fill the holes made by the cubbords jutting out. We then just waited for him to relax enough crawl out again. He spent awhile crawling around the screen trying to find a gap. Once he was calm-ish, Mom and I pulled the screen, rushed it to the window before he could fly off, and got him outisde the window.
All done and good, right? No more worries! We delt with all three of the bats (mom thinks that it was one of them that had brushed agasint her foot earler in the night when she thoguht she had imagined something touching her), the holes in the walls were blocked again, and it was around 10:30 so Mom wanted to go to bed.
I stayed up to help Dad work on the wireing, Mom went to bed. Finaly around 12:30 Dad and I gave up too. I wasn't in my room for more then five minutes before I heard my mom say just below a scream, "Joe! There's one in my bed!!"
I rushed iin, and found mom more freeked then I'd seen her in years! She'd been trying to sleep when this fourth bat, who'd probably been in there for hours by this point, and crawled up next to her.
Perfectly understndable freek out on her part, in all honesty. I'd sure as hell have been freeked out, too, at that point.
Since I was the first one into the room, I took over the duties of catching that one, with backup help from Joe. Took a few minutes of chaseing it around the bed before I finaly cought it underneith an empty trashcan and slid a cardboard box between it and the bed and got the whole kit 'n kaboodle to the door in their room and released it outside again.
I honestly thought Mom was gunna pack up then and there and get a hotel room for the night. She was really freeked, and Dad was still freeked from before. Honestly, I think I was the only one who was still, "Oh COOL! BATS!" ::laughs:: In fact, I know I was. I love bats, and it was only that second one under the dishwasher who didn't act healthy.
Until last night, I'd always been able to make the arugment of our bats being more benifishal then dangrous, even when Mom talked repetedly about getting rid of them every summer, expeicaly after we got the boys.
After the first two bats, I was still able to make that argument, expeicaly since the bats hadn't flown into the house, but cralwed in from their own nesting site because of our action. They didn't seek us out, they just followed the sounds of the bugs inside from having doors open all day because of the work being done.
After the whole producting of catching the third bat, I'd lost Joe. By the time Mom found the bat in her bed with her?
Yah, they called the exterminators this morning. ::sighs:: No chance in hell of saving them at this point. I was still sleep when they went into work today, no I haven't yet heard when the exterminator will come or anything, but I doubt they'll wait long. We can't exactly leave pillows stuffed in the wall for long.
In the end, I'm just glad we got the four we had back outside without them being hurt, or any of us being bitten. I'm just sad that that won't save them in the end. ::sighs::
I was watching the S3 premeair of Eureka, when I heard Joe shout something panic-laden in the hallway. I rushed out to see what had happend, and he started shouting at me to "get back inside, close the door!" So I did, with the first thought of "OMG, Nerve Gas?!" ::facepalm:: I'm such a geek and over-imaginitive reader.
I shouted out, "What's wrong?", of course, and he (rather calmly considering how freeked he was) explained that we had bats in the house.
I proceeded to start laughing my ass off.
I went out into the hallway (quite calmly), as did Mom (also calm), to get more info (Dad was still quite freeked and kept trying to tell us to get back inside).
Now, you've gotta understand, we have bats around us at all times. They've been roosting in our chimney ever since we converted our woodstove into a gas stove about 10 to 13 years ago (forget exactly how long). We had bats before that, but only a few who'd roost in the shadow between the chimeny and the house, but once we closed off the flue, we got dozens calling the inside of the chimneh itself home. So I grew up around bats. Had bats at the house I spent my early yeas in, too, because it was on a "lake" (Climax Lake, which was really just a pond with a huge ego). So the idea of bats inside didn't freek me out, other then the fact that we have had signs of rabbid bats amongst the group in years past.
Scoping the place out, we found the first one hanging from the now empty curten rod in the livingroom. That one was pretty easy to get out, dad raeched over to the screen beneith it (which REALLY freeked him out, but he wouldn't let Mom or I do it), and poped the screen out and used it and a handy broom to sweep him off the rod and out the window.He thought he'd seen two more, but thought one had maybe gotten outside while the door was open (how he thought they got in at the time), so we were just looking for one. Looking around the house, we realised that, hay, we curently have a whole section of wall missing where we took out the pitcutre window and made that the new front door, which meens we have huge hole leading directly into the attic space, which is in turn, connected to the chimeny. Huummmm.
So that's the curent belief of how they got in, crawling though the attic. Mom desided to pin a tablecloth over the hole, and stuff the remaining gaps with pillows. When I went to enter the kitchen to get more pushpins, I found the second bat on the floor.
The first bat was clearly healthy, so I wasn't worried about either rabies or plague, but this one was flat on the floor, crawling around, instead of flying. BIIIIIIGG bat danger warning sign right there. Bats with end-stage rabbies loose their ablitiy to fly well, and offten fall to the ground and crawl around.
That startled me, but didn't really freek me. But I freeked it out, and it crawled under the dishwasher. Dad tried to take the chance to get though the kitchen to open that window and pull the screen out...
That's when he saw the one in the sink. ::snickers:: Talk about freek out! He didn't scream or squeek or anything so un-manly, but boy did he jump! ::laughing::
The one in the sink was trickey, the walls of the sink were too high for him to climb out, and there was a bowl full of water inside the sink, and we didn't have any gloves to reach in and safely pull him out.
That beguan a whole, very amusing process of the three of us trying to get him out. Finaly I just had to reach in (carefuly, he was very aggitated) and pull the bowl. The poor bat was pretty soaked by that point, because we'd sloshed a fair bit of the water into the sink trying to get him with the broom.
Dad and Mom both had screens from the windows and were using them as sheilds, and I had the broom. Once we got the bowl out, I put the broom back into the sink, and encuraged him to crawl up onto it. Which he did almsot imideatly, once the bowl was gone. As soon as he crawled up, I just moved him out the window, and gave the broom a shake and he flew off. No big.
Mind you, the whole time we're doing this, we still have the one that's possibly sick at our feet, and Mom and I were both barefoot. Liiitle nurvewracking there.
We then proceded to try to get that one out, which was less amusing this time, and more a comidy of "aww, damn."
Long story shorter, that didn't like the broom idea, and instead ended up running away from the broom and figuring out how to crawl behind the dishwasher. No way to get him out easily. I tapped the whole area off while Dad tried to call animal controle. Turns out animal controle only gets involved after someone has been bit, and only then to catch the bat to test it for rabies.Since we couldn't get him out, we got back to work on house repairs, until I heard him start to try crawling out from behind the cubbords again and desided we could give this another go. I pulled all the tape off I'd put to block all the cracks, and instead taped one of the screens over the area instead, using tape to fill the holes made by the cubbords jutting out. We then just waited for him to relax enough crawl out again. He spent awhile crawling around the screen trying to find a gap. Once he was calm-ish, Mom and I pulled the screen, rushed it to the window before he could fly off, and got him outisde the window.
All done and good, right? No more worries! We delt with all three of the bats (mom thinks that it was one of them that had brushed agasint her foot earler in the night when she thoguht she had imagined something touching her), the holes in the walls were blocked again, and it was around 10:30 so Mom wanted to go to bed.
I stayed up to help Dad work on the wireing, Mom went to bed. Finaly around 12:30 Dad and I gave up too. I wasn't in my room for more then five minutes before I heard my mom say just below a scream, "Joe! There's one in my bed!!"
I rushed iin, and found mom more freeked then I'd seen her in years! She'd been trying to sleep when this fourth bat, who'd probably been in there for hours by this point, and crawled up next to her.
Perfectly understndable freek out on her part, in all honesty. I'd sure as hell have been freeked out, too, at that point.
Since I was the first one into the room, I took over the duties of catching that one, with backup help from Joe. Took a few minutes of chaseing it around the bed before I finaly cought it underneith an empty trashcan and slid a cardboard box between it and the bed and got the whole kit 'n kaboodle to the door in their room and released it outside again.
I honestly thought Mom was gunna pack up then and there and get a hotel room for the night. She was really freeked, and Dad was still freeked from before. Honestly, I think I was the only one who was still, "Oh COOL! BATS!" ::laughs:: In fact, I know I was. I love bats, and it was only that second one under the dishwasher who didn't act healthy.
Until last night, I'd always been able to make the arugment of our bats being more benifishal then dangrous, even when Mom talked repetedly about getting rid of them every summer, expeicaly after we got the boys.
After the first two bats, I was still able to make that argument, expeicaly since the bats hadn't flown into the house, but cralwed in from their own nesting site because of our action. They didn't seek us out, they just followed the sounds of the bugs inside from having doors open all day because of the work being done.
After the whole producting of catching the third bat, I'd lost Joe. By the time Mom found the bat in her bed with her?
Yah, they called the exterminators this morning. ::sighs:: No chance in hell of saving them at this point. I was still sleep when they went into work today, no I haven't yet heard when the exterminator will come or anything, but I doubt they'll wait long. We can't exactly leave pillows stuffed in the wall for long.
In the end, I'm just glad we got the four we had back outside without them being hurt, or any of us being bitten. I'm just sad that that won't save them in the end. ::sighs::
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-30 09:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 03:53 pm (UTC)The bats are safe for now, though. I just posted an update.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 03:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 03:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 04:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-30 09:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 03:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-30 11:34 pm (UTC)~Kia
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-30 11:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 03:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 01:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 04:01 pm (UTC)Vishus thing, Mom was royaly pissed when she found out George had let us keep and handel a wild animal that was all teath and desease like that. ::LOL:: But I loved it. Named it "Tickels", I think, because it kept crawling into the corner of my elbow and nuzzleing and it's whiskers tickled. (GOD I was so luckey not to get bitten and get rabies or something. ::LOL!::0
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 04:11 am (UTC)Sorry about the exterminator... hopefully, it will result more in bat-proofing than bat-killing, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 04:03 pm (UTC)