So I pick up said toy, not really looking at it, and think, wow, that is really soft and I even rub my hand across it before sitting it down on the nearby bench. I then proceed to grab the hay for the bunnies.
And THEN I SEE...
Out of the corner of my eye...
Something MOVES!
And I slowly turn my head, almost reluctantly...
And see this toy start OPENING up!
I see a tiny hand shape...attached to an arm...that is stretching out...attached to a WING!!
And then the screaming begins.
I can recreate the screams. I still have a slight headache from it.
AAAHHH, AAAHHH, AAAHHH, AAAHHH, AAAHHH
Almost like each breath was a sream....those fast, pulsating screams...
(Can you hear them?)
So after about maybe 10 or so of them...I finally realize...
I. Must. Move.
So I run up to the kitchen and get the first thing that popped into my mind...a clear glass mixing bowl.
Now, I grab it for 3 reasons, all within a moment's time, mind you.
One, it's Clear so I could keep my eye on it.
Two, it is Heavy in case I decide to leave him there all day until my husband got home from work.
And Three...it had a Spout on it so it could breathe if I left him all day.
(I am quite impressed by the reasonings that took place in those few seconds, I must say. Although the one equation I forgot was the cats)
So, I rush downstairs and drop it over top of him...he had curled back up into the toy mouse shape by now.
I am in udder shock that I had picked up and held a bat at this point. And didn't know what to do next. Besides scrub my hands. 4 times.
After all the washing, I call my husband. And I am spazzing.
I tell him the story as fast as I could...and I knew what he was going to say and what needed done, even though I was dreading it.
"You must save it. And NOW!"
Damnit.
So, upon realizing no one was going to come to my aid in this crisis, I go back upstairs and grab a few paper plates and head back down.
Okay, breathe. You can do this.
Think of this little bat. He needs to get out of the house before the cats get him. I am cringing so bad at this point.
I put the paper plates against the bench and then very slowly and gingerly slide him across the bench onto the plate. I was actually worried he was injured at this point because he was just laying there.
But......then he freaked out.
He flipped over and stretched both wings ALL the way OUT, which meant that they actually slid out from under the bowl!
And then he started screaming!! (Almost a mocking scream of my earlier cries)
I suppose the light shining right in his face did not help.
I thought I could pass out from being so scared but decided to run. As fast as I could.
Up the stairs, out the back door and then set him down on the plate on the deck, farthest away from the house and ran back inside.
Then I stood there, secure by the separation of storm door between us and waited for him to fly away.
Nothing.
So, I gave it a few minutes and then I thought that the experience wasn't quite complete so I decided to move him again, without the aid of the bowl down into the yard.
I spend the next 25 minutes checking on him but he hadn't flown away.
I then had to leave for work.
When my husband got home from work, I find that the bat still hadn't moved. Kevin went to check on it and moved the plate to see if he was still alive and he stretched his wings and opened his mouth but didn't fly. I begin to worry. My friend gives me a great tip to call a local environmental center. The man tells me we need to find a shelter for the bat to hibernate and get him up off the ground or he will die.
Not on my watch!
So, fear aside. (well, not really, I was still afraid he could bite me!) My husband scouted out at least 30 different trees behind our house to find one that was hollowed out for the bat to hibernate in. One of the reasons I love him so. I get home from work and we carry the bat on his paper plate into the wooded area. He isn't moving and I worry he is sick or dead. My husband, while holding him 3 or 4 feet above the ground, assures me he is fine and goes to demonstrate this fact. He gently shakes the plate and all of a sudden, the bat wakes up and flies away! We were both relieved he could fly and now he will hopefully find a better spot to hibernate until spring.
I am thankful that I am the one that purchased this tiny bat's hibernating hay bag because his fate could have been much worse. Although, I don't know what I would have done with a large, meaty bat flying around the house with three cats destroying the house to get at him. Can't even imagine the carnage.
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