My kids would probably want to keep a bat as a pet. We had mice in the attic a couple of years ago, but we haven't had bats, at this point.
The troops are not very motivated this morning. Twerps. Maybe we'll skip the library and just go to the Post Office for stamps.
We suspect this bat came in from the attic when Tertia went searching for a Barbie doll.
We came home from piano lessons, for a quick pit-stop before rushing off to swim practice, and Tertia screamed that there was a bat in the house. I asked where it was and she screamed again that it was in the "homeschooling" room. She was right. There it was, flitting around the room, with the cats in hot pursuit.
Apparently, the cats had double teamed it while Tertia was watching: Mcxlplx had it pinned to the carpet and Minerva had her mouth over it. The screams startled the cats, who let the thing go.
It flew right at me. I behaved like a complete girl and screamed. Let me tell you, when a "motivated" mezzo screams, it is LOUD! Even the neighbor heard me.
Anyway, my scream terrified Tertia and Quartus, who sought refuge in the basement, screaming and locking doors as they went. They even locked the cat door, the only access the cats have to the cat pan, by the way, because they were afraid the bat would try to come through it. Of course, I only found out about the locked cat door after we had left the house for swim practice, but I digress.
The bat took off down the corridor towards the living room and dining room. There are no doors dividing these spaces, so trapping the bat was out of the question.
Instead, I grabbed a towel from the bathroom and chased down the nasty creature in the living room, where I alternately attempted to swat it from the sky and dove to the carpet to get out of it's way. (I'm convinced it had fangs that were this big and that it could jump/fly this far.)
Meanwhile, my two eldest children, Primus and Secundus, alerted by my screams, stood outside the front storm door and watched the proceedings. Little darlings that they are, they stood there and openly laughed at me. (They will pay later, at a time and, in a manner, of my choosing.)
I managed to successfully stun the horrid, fanged creature, scooped him up in the towel, and dumped him outside on what was left of the snow.
Secundus was sure that I'd killed the bat, which is no more than it deserved for entering the house without permission, but I assured him that it was still breathing. Primus demanded that we take a picture, which we did, and he stuck around long enough to watch the bat rouse itself and fly off to relative safety.
Now, the hubby and I have to go into the attic to figure out how the bat got in and to determine whether or not he had "friends". I'm all for bats, but they will, by G*d, stay outdoors like civilized creatures!
The hubby reported that he had to soothe Tertia before putting her to bed last night. She said that she was now afraid of bats. He said, "You mean bats like the one behind you?"
Much screaming and leaping about ensued.
Thank goodness I was not here to witness it.
If I can transfer the pic to the laptop, and remember how to post it, I will. He was just a common brown bat, but he seemed very formidable when he was flying at me with his saber-toothed fangs bared and at the ready.....*shuddering*