Bats

I had intended to blog about an experience I had last week rescuing a hawk from traffic, but that will wait for another day.  Instead, I'm going to talk about bats. 

Last night while watching the local news a report came on about how the station had helped a family with a bat infestation in their apartment.  Then I saw the man beat one bat with a mop, and another bat with a broom or mop handle.  I was so horrified and shocked, I had to change the station.  My blood boiled with anger and I became anxious.  Total visceral reaction.  I could not believe that this was what this man had to resort to and worse, that the station would film and show such violence towards another living creature.  If it had been a cat or a dog, the person would be charged with animal cruelty.  


Why is it that we decide that some animals are more worthy of our care and respect than others?  My answer is fear and ignorance.  I don't mean ignorance as in "stupid." I mean ignorance as in not knowing any other way.  Of course this young father was worried about his family. He has young children.  I'd be worried, too.  Who wants to live with bats flying around your home every night?  Shame on the apartment manager and complex owner for not keeping up the property.  That would have prevented the nesting in the first place.  Shame on them for not taking care of the problem immediately once the bats were reported.  That would have prevented entire families of bats from being destroyed.  And while I understand the father's reaction, what he has inadvertently shown his family is that it's ok to attack and harm another creature even if it isn't attacking or harming you.  I get it; they were in his home.  He was left to his own devices when help wasn't available.  It's just so sad from all sides. 


Bats are intelligent and generally harmless, shy creatures who actually help us by keeping down insect populations.  Some species eat up to 3000 insects a night.  Few of them are blood-sucking and those may carry rabies.  More rabies cases are attributed to raccoons, foxes and feral cats than to bats.   Here is a link to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Bat Facts

I remember as a child we had bats nesting in our attic.  My father did what he knew to do: he waited until dusk and "fogged" the entire attic with poison to drive them out or kill them.  It was a terrible evening for me as I sat on the front porch and helplessly watched these fascinating creatures swarm out and die.  I tried to talk my father out of his intent, but in the 70's, there weren't many alternatives nor much information to help persuade him otherwise.  


Here is a link to a website that encourages humane bat control, with excellent information about bats, their habitats, habits, disease, etc. 
Bats | Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services, LLC (804) 457-2883


In the 1990's I moved to a home with a swimming pool in my backyard.  What a treat to go out on a warm summer night and lull in a cool pool.  Until one night a bat came diving at me.  I screamed!  I ducked under water!  I ran into the house.  My husband laughed hysterically and I was dumbfounded.  But, I next went to our computer and began researching bats.  I learned that bats drink by diving into lakes (or pools) and skimming the top of the water: like a touch-and-go airplane maneuver.  So the next night, I watched.  And sure enough, that is exactly what the bats were doing.  They weren't "attacking" me at all.  They were drinking.  From that point on I gladly shared my pool with the bats and no longer was afraid if I was in the pool, although I admit, I didn't stay in while they drank.  


Point is, if possible, there are options to dealing with the other creatures we share our earth with than resorting to destruction.  

Rabbit update 2011

The baby has left the nest.  I say baby, singular, because I believe there was only one. 
Typically there are 2 or 3, but when I finally got a peek at the baby, it was rather large.  And it was about 5 days earlier than I expected to see it, so I'm guessing either there was only one, OR Mama Bunny gave birth a little earlier than I thought. 

A few days before the baby came out, I noticed the opening was getting larger.  Mama moves her fur away when she's ready for the babies to see the world.  It's fascinating really, to be able to watch the process on a daily basis.  


Mama Bunny won't get any bonus points from me for being Mommy of the Year. She'll run before she will protect her young.  When the dogs or I show up, Boing! boing! boing! She's sprinted across the yard and under the fence.  Gone. 
In spite of that, baby bunnies seem to proliferate and do quite well.  Once they've dodged the neighborhood dogs, cats and hawks, it's on to more bunny-making around here.  


At any rate, "my" baby bunny has hit the road.  I haven't seen it anywhere, but hope it's doing ok.  I also hope it's not a she and that it doesn't return to make new nests or babies in my yard.  

Good luck little one.  

While You're Away Don't Forget to Write

Tomorrow morning is the last writing class until fall. 

I am feeling sadness and disappointment.  It’s like meeting a new best friend at camp -  you spend nearly all your time with each other like you’ve been together forever, then boom! the week is gone and you go home with only your crafts and a few photos to confirm it actually happened.  Luckily, I have the fall to look forward to when I hope class will resume.  And I have better than a few crafts; I have pages of thoughts, ideas, and history that have poured out over the past 12 weeks, I have readings from authors I've never heard of and I have the gift of sharing with other writers and hearing their fascinating, heart-rending, funny, sublime, fantastical stories. 

I have met women I’d not ever have met otherwise and learned from their wisdom, pain and joy.  I have laughed, cried, been in awe and profoundly touched by such gifted and brave creatures.  This has been a spring I shall treasure.  This is the spring I began to even consider writing as a creative endeavor.  I love summer and don't want to wish it away, but I can’t wait for the next installment. 

Thank you Valley. 

Rabbit, Rabbit part deux

This is a photographic update on the baby bunny situation in my backyard. (See the previous post for more details.)  I don't know that you'll be able to see, but there is a baby bunny looking at me.  The green leaf has been moved several times and there is now an open space just above it.  Inside that space there is a pair of little bunny eyeballs looking back at me. The one in the photo is just above the tip of that brown oak leaf.  Very tiny. 

Here is the view similar to the one taken earlier this week.  You can see the large stick on the right is still in place, but the nest is rearranged several times a day by Mama Bunny. 

The babies are obviously growing now, since the air spaces are getting larger.  My dogs have begun to pick up their scent and stick their noses under the panels. I believe they are now "talking," because my youngest hound will turn in their direction as if she hears them, but I can't hear anything. 

Rabbit, Rabbit

According to Wikipedia,  a person should say "rabbit, rabbit"  upon waking on the first day of each new month, and that person will receive good luck for the rest of the month.  I think I have enough rabbits living in my garden to forgo that ritual.  I should have enough luck for the remainder of my life. 

This is my "official" rabbit-protection-system.  It isn't fancy.  It's my art panels linked together using bungees tight enough to keep out dogs, loose enough to let in Mama Bunny, frightening enough to keep away roaming kitties.   

I have bunnies galore in my yard and every month from March until October, Mama Bunny and I disagree about the use of my yard as an incubator.  She digs holes for nests, I fill them in.  Not that I don't love bunnies, but I have 3 dogs and at a certain stage of their nesting, they squeak and smell and inevitably are dug up and killed by my furkids doing what nature has instructed they do - seek, destroy, eat if possible.

I was doing so well this year until Ernie and I went away for three days.  Mama Bunny sneaked in during our absence and sure enough, had babies under an oak tree.  I know all the signs now, and as soon as I saw the patch in the back woods, indicating she'd removed leaves and needles to line her nest, I knew she'd beaten me once again.  So I set out on a mission to find said new nest.  Mama Bunny always builds near a tree or stick that is vertical to the ground, (earlier this spring it was by the gas meter!) nearly always to the south and east, usually sloping in the event of rain and not far from her tell-tale bare spot.  She digs holes one night. The next night she lines the chosen hole with pine needles, debris and/or grass, then covers it up.  The next night she lines the hole with her own fur and recovers it all.  Usually this is when I give up, because she's ready to give birth.  This is also when its hard to find the dang nest because she's an expert at camouflage.   

See what I mean?  Want to see if you can find the nest?  

Do you see that light green leaf in the center near the tree?  (not the bright green leaves on the vine) That's on top of the center of the nest...I put it there to mark it to make sure she's coming back every day. There is a faded one nearer the tree that I put there when I found the nest. It's under a needle now, which means she's been there and moved it. If you look closely, you can see the pine needles under that form a bit of a circle. The stick is to the right of the nest.  She has openings on each side of the nest, barely perceptible.  If I remove the top layer of needles, her gray fur covering (and waterproofing) the nest could be seen and the babies will wiggle, but they are newborn and I'm not going to bother them just yet. 

Hopefully they'll make it.  When they don't, I bury them in my garden, returning energy to the earth, sending them off by acknowledging their short lives with a prayer to the Universe.  I feel somewhat responsible for these little creatures who live in my space.  They can't help that I have dogs and their Mama is seemingly oblivious.  I do my best to encourage Mama Bunny to move elsewhere.  But once they arrive, I do everything I can to help them get to a place where they can survive. Which means leaving them alone and keeping the dogs away.  Once they leave the nest, nature takes over.  And I'm on the lookout for the next rabbit, rabbit.