Sunday, August 26, 2007

A bit creepy

Yesterday, my roommate left to go shoot clay thingies and to spend a night out camping and drinking. I spent the day patching cracked plaster and taping of the trim in preparation for painting. When I decided it was time for some sleep, I went into my bedroom, lowered and closed to blinds but when I went to turn off the light, something caught my eye. In the office, Lilly was watching something in the air. At first I thought she was chasing a fly, because she goes crazy when there are flies in the house, but then I saw a shadow of something much larger than a fly. I walk into the room and turn on the light. Flying around in circles was the only mammal with wings. That's right my friends, a bat.

Now the room he was flying around in was the same room that has the door to the attic. I had gone up to the attic much earlier in the day, but I had shut the door behind me on the way up and on my way down. Actually, there are two doors to the attic, and I just closed the bottom one on my way down. At any rate, I don't recall a bat flying out either time.

But now I had three cats watching a bat, all waiting for it to come down low enough for them to take a swipe at it. How do you catch a bat? Thoughts went through my mind of getting a blanket and netting him, but with my ungracefulness, I knew I'd probably break something. So I shooed the cats out of the room, and opened the attic door. If I could just get this little guy to fly into the attic, I'm sure he could figure out how to get out from there. He flew around and around and kept trying to hang on the walls, but would just slide off. I knew he must have been getting pretty tired. Finally, he flew through the open door and I went to go close it up, but then he flew back out and straight at me! I waited a bit longer as he continued to fly around the room in circles. He was starting to make me dizzy. He flew back into the attic and I shut the door.

I have to admit that thought of sleeping with the covers over my head ran through my mind all night, but as far as I know, he never came back. Now, sometime today, I have to go up and close the second door... I hope he's not planning an escape. I think I will name him Jake.

Friday, August 17, 2007

City Wildlife

I know what you are saying... "City Wildlife, you have GOT to be kidding." But no, I'm not. Living "downtown," Andrew and I have enjoyed the company of some of our favorite wildlife. They inclued:
the squirrel couple, Francis and Penelope,
the mourning doves, Edwardo and Phylis,
the sharp-shinned hawk, Chester,
the Siamese alley cat, Sampson (the name on his tag),
the stray dog that used to live under our porch, Shenandoah
and many more that have gone unnamed. We have a cardinal family, a purple finch couple, a flock of wrens, a momma rabbit and her 3 little ones who have recently left the nest. There is one member of the wildlife that we have not seen yet, but we know he exists. He likes to dig through my potted plants, tip over my water-starters, and eat our welcome mat. Andrew said that he would put up a webcam so we could catch him in action. I will keep you posted!