A Bird in the House

Living in the country we have come to expect seeing different species of animals. Deer occasionally grace our presence. Of course, once we are seen by them they quickly disappear. One day as I was looking out a back window there were 7 or so wild turkey. After flying away, they have not returned. Many different birds come to our three feeders. Sunflower seed is spread on the ground for the doves and squirrels. Cardinals and smaller birds also search for food on the ground but the smaller ones mostly enjoy the feeders with their perches. We started throwing it on the ground to keep squirrels from eating the plastic off our original bird feeders. Now we have "squirrel proof" feeders that do a good job of keeping them from the food contained within.

Living in the country there is plenty of land for all God's creatures. A wooded area begins within thirty feet of the rear of our house providing food and protection for wildlife living there.

What we didn't expect happened early one morning in the summer. With me being a sound sleeper, I could not imagine what my wife was saying at 2 in the morning. My glasses with thick lenses were on a table beside the bed, where I had left them before I laid down to sleep. A ceiling fan was on chasing the heat away. Barely awake I could see something attached to the fan, circling with the fan blades. Once, the object made oblong path around the fan. Soon, by wife had turned on the light, my glasses were on and we saw a bird following the path of the fan blades. I quickly closed the bedroom door to keep the critter from the rest of the house.

With the light on we realized it was a bat! Why didn't our cats alert us? The first task was to get rid of the bat. It was indeed following the path of the fan blades. Taking the screen off the windows we tried, lamely I might add, to divert its course with pillows and out the window. This was not working. I had folded the curtains over the top. Once, when the bat landed on the top of the curtains, he "walked" up the inside of the folds of the curtain. A fascinating site this would have been under different circumstances.

Obviously, this method was not working. A towel might work. My wife opened the door with the bat still following the flight of the fan blades. Returning with old towels, my wife and I started making attempts to again divert the bat outside the window, his freedom and ours. I didn't realize how high our ceiling was, although they are only 8 feet or so. The bat was evading our feeble attempts. I jumped, with the length of the towel spread out, and missed. Another attempt, nothing! Finally, my wife said, "you caught him." Now what do I do? Do I take him, still wrapped up, to the outside? Do I open the towel and hope he flies away? I opted for throwing the towel out the window and hoping he flew away.

With the windows now closed we opened the bedroom door to our two cats' right there wondering why we had locked them out! Lying back down, it was difficult to return to slumber land.

The next morning I went outside to retrieve the towel, wondering what I would do if the bat was still wrapped inside. Fortunately, he was gone. We are still wondering how he came into the house and chose our bedroom.

You have my permission to reprint and distribute this article as long as it is distributed in its entirety, including all links and copyright information. © Lloyd Mize 2007

After retiring, Lloyd Mize is spending his time as the webmaster for Christian Article Bank,
A Biblically Based Collection of Articles.
He enjoys traveling and seeing wildlife.