Cats-v-Bats

[flip195]

Last night (early hours of the morning) I was laid on the bed reading when I came to a sudden relization there was not a single cat in the room, very strange!! (If you don't live with cats you need to understand that when you go to bed it's a free for all competition to see who can get the most fur up your nose and win the fight for the prized position of laying on the sleepers chest.) I have'nt been sleeping to well the last week, so of course the cats have taken full advantage of it, by surrounding me as soon as I lay down.
So I think to myself "cool I have the bed to myself, i can actually stretch out." Just as I am getting comfy I hear cats running like crazy and the a squeaking, armed with a container I get up ready to go rescue yet another mouse from one of the cats.
Well CRAP, geez... just as I am walking out of the door the cats all come running towards me.. we are talking at least 16 of the 20, next thing I know this black thing flys past my head, holy cow, it's a freakin BAT, and not a small one, it's wing span was about 14 inches across.... one of the cats Launches himself into the air and knocks the bat to the ground mid flight, so now i have 16 cats looking... yes i said looking at this bat flopping around on the bedroom floor screaming bloody murder, thank fully none of them went near it, they just stood and looked. My container is mouse sized, not mutant bat size.... so I had to run to get a bigger container... i covered the bat with a shoe box. got the container got the lil bugger in it and took it outside.
I opened up the container but batty decided he liked it in there and did not want to come out eventually I got the lil bugger out and he sits on the deck rail for a few minutes looking at me with his lil beady bats eyes, then he squeaks and takes off. Now i have to try and find out how the lil bugger go into the house.

Can we all say EWWWWWWWW

[catmandu]

We Just Hope Taht That Bat Was Not Rabid,asa Normal Bat Will Not Fly Into A House, If He Can Help It.
Thank God, None Of Your Crew Got Near It.

[Lizzie]

You do, I'm afraid, have to be concerned about rabies. In Washington State, all the rabies contracted by humans in the past several years have been through bats, and some of the people didn't even realize they had been bitten. One case was a little girl who was bitten by her cat who had, some weeks or months earlier, caught a bat. Our rabies rate in this state is very low, but it's still there. I have bats in the garden, and I'm glad that I do, but I've always made sure that my cats all have rabies shots. Now that I have FIV+ cats who can't have that shot, I close my deck doors before sunset - which I hate, but feel is necessary.

A previous state governor found a bat in his house and, although there was no known contact between the bat and his family, they all had a series of rabies shots including the baby.

I've no desire to give bats a bad name since they are both beautiful and ecologically valuable, and neither do I want to put the wind up you, but you may want to check with your doctor.

[barncat]

Although I agree that you should be aware of the risk of bats, I do want to let you know that even healthy bats will occasionally get into houses...especially if there is an attic space or a chimney with an open flue. Next time, keep the bat confined and take it to a bat rescue (yes, they exist!) That way ypu won't have the worry of what if...

[Sevaede]

Wow, that is some crazy stuff to have going on! Glad that none of your fur babies. That actually kind of surprises me as both of mine and, most definitely, my foster would have.

That reminds me of a story that I've heard several times. A few years back, my husband was spending the winter holidays with his parents. They put up the tree and it was all awesome and whatnot. Well, it was after everyone went to bed except his mom. She was reading and all of a sudden FWOOM!. She looked up, nothing. FWOOM! She looked up, again, and saw a bat! She made my husband catch it with a gunny sack. I think he kept it for a couple months because it was injured for some reason or another and then released it.

My aunt's ex roommates cat got bitten by a bat in their house. I forgot how it got in there but they captured it and put it in the fridge.

[mruffruff]

Not a laughing matter, but I have to say I did! You have a way with words

I'm not sure I would have had the presence of mind to trap and release the little (?) devil. My cats would have probably had a snack before I could move.

Good job.

[Donnaj4962]

Oh my! I am so sorry that you (or rather your furbabies) found a bat in the house! Several years ago, when I was married, we had a COLONY living in our attic! And it was not uncommon for us to have several bats flying through the house at any one time! At the time, I only had Tabitha, and she would just watch them fly by! WOOOOOHOOOOO... free entertainment!

She must have had fun with one one day because when I came home from work, I went into the bathroom, had the door half closed, had my pants around my feet and was half-seated when I saw the bat, just hanging out on the floor and Tabitha keeping a very close eye on it! Fortunately, my (now-ex-) husband walked into the house at that time and was able to get the bat outside! I can only wonder how long that bat and Tabitha played that day! Of course, I had her to the vet and she was fine! No bite marks and no other side effects!

I did extensive research on bats after that adventure, and found that bats can get into any space the size of a dime. They can constrict their bodies and are basically a mouse with wings! They don't typically get into houses, and we had so many bats because we had a whole colony living in our attic. Our house was balloon construction, which means that when you were in the basement, you could look up the walls and see all the way to the roof. Our basement and first floor was not able to be secured by a door, so we put up a blanket trying to keep the bats in the basement. DIDN'T WORK!

One night, I stood in the kitchen, making lasagna, and looked beside me and there was a bat! Just flapping his wings like he was asking what was for dinner!!!! I immediately ran out of the house! Yep, I was asceered of them and was known to lay in bed with the blankets pulled over my head while my (now-ex-) husband chased them down with a tennis racket.

I know, bats are good for the insect population.... etc. But when they are in the house, and there are as many as we had.... well, they were going to be stunned and put outside for nature to take care of them!

By the way, I let him have the house in the divorce.... I wasn't going to do battle over the bats! Let him have them. And as I understand it, 5 years later, he still is battling them!

[moosmom]

If you don't live with cats you need to understand that when you go to bed it's a free for all competition to see who can get the most fur up your nose and win the fight for the prized position of laying on the sleepers chest.)

Ain't THAT the truth!!!! (Sorry Catnapper )