Long Night

I slept fitfully last night from about 3am on. I kept waking up hearing these scratching noises. I thought it was squirrels in the attack again although, in my sleepy fog, I was confused about that since we haven't heard them since we had the roof fixed months ago. Finally about 5am I thought I heard something flying (yes flying) around the room and then I felt a rush of wind go by my face. Somehow I knew immediately what it was: a bat! Sure enough I put my glasses on and turned on the light and there he was, swooping around the room looking for a way out. Now, there are some animals that would send me running out the door in cowardly flight. Fortunately, bats are not one of them. But neither did I want to spend the rest of the night with him swooping around. So I elected to go downstairs and let him have the room.

I consulted Google this morning and learned that it was probably a young bat (it's the time of year for them) who just got lost and I should have opened the window and he would have found his way out. I'm not sure how he got in there in the first place though. The chimney in that room is supposed to have a cap. My guess is that they live our attic because J saw one in the basement some months back.

So, it's official: I've got bats in the belfry. At least J will feel vindicated because I never really believed him when he said he'd seen one in the basement. I've got the door closed off for now and I don't see him in there. Either he's hanging out in the chimney or he found access to the attic like he supposedly came in. I will try to figure out how to get the screen off one of our windows (they're old) and hopefully if he is in the chimney he will find his way out at dusk. Still, not looking forward to tonight!