Night Caller
I do like to have fresh air. Even lately, the bedroom window has been slightly open at night. Listening to the rain in the trees and the fast flowing river has a soporific effect.
But tonight something was fluttering around my head. A moth perhaps? Emerging from a deep sleep I tried swatting it away. Within seconds it was back. Larger than a moth. I could hear the soft beating of its wings. My lurching out of bed inevitably disturbed Mike, who sat bolt upright too.
Bedroom curtains are still a distant dream. We could clearly see the outline of the pipistrelle bat against the moonlit night outside. But how, exactly, do you catch one? Chasing it around the room was getting us precisely nowhere. It was fast and far too manoeuvrable. Nothing else for it but just open the window to its full extent and hope. Sure enough, our friend’s echolocation did the rest. The bat homed in on the exact centre of the opening and flew out into the night.
Good grief. And it isn’t even Halloween.
….and that’s why I love living in the country…you never know what’s going to happen next!!
Absolutely! Welcome back Sue, I hope you had a wonderful holiday.
We have one that flutters around our sitting room window at night, catching it’s dinner no doubt, but I often wonder if it wants to come in and watch TV with us in the warm.
It might… I was worried that ours might be looking for a place to spend the winter. And bats roosting in the bedroom I can do without!
Oh my goodness! If I was you I’d definitely check my neck for pin-holes!
At least I won’t have to worry about avoiding the sun… 🙂
Welcome back, Oma.
I love bats & had one caught inside our lampshade once. We had a little look before setting it free – amazing. Had magpies in the chimney too…
The bats are lovely aren’t they.. I really like sitting out on summer evenings and watching them flit about. But in the house they can be a problem. I hope they have not taken to nesting in the roof!
We had a bat in the house the other night. Nice to see it as we thought we had upset the bat fraternity when we had the old roofs taken off and new ones put on. The bat didn’t visit for long though. Like you, Jessica, we opened wide the window and out it flew!
They must have a really good sense of where they are, from their echolocation. I was surprised just how quickly it found the open window.
Yep! Out within a second!
🙂
I have never seen a bat up close. I bet that was a bit too close for comfort!
This time we didn’t see too much of it either. Previously I’ve found a sleeping bat, and got a better look at that. They’re really quite sweet.
Must admit I’m a bit nervous of bats! The cat and I were watching them flit around at dusk last week – through the closed windows, there were about three of them buzzing around for quite a while, glad your visitor was able to make its way home:)
Even if you were to be outside, they probably wouldn’t come too close to you. I have tried before, had to stand quite still for a long time, and even then they flit away very quickly. Having a cat around you would be a good deterrent too, I should think.