They're Baaaaaaack!

And just in time for Halloween, too. I don't know if you remember (trust me, I DO!), but around this time of the year in 2009, I discovered that we had some unexpected house guests. Bats. I was a little freaked out. OK, maybe I was a LOT freaked out. They had taken up residence in the light fixtures just outside and over my front door. Needless to say, I asked them politely to leave. Then I tried not to look up there any more and pretended that they had gone their merry way. And no, that was not bat poop that I've been sweeping off my front porch for the last two years. (Denial is a powerful thing, people. Don't judge.) Anyhoo, this morning the sun was slowly rising and the hubby was getting ready to head off to work. He stepped out the front door and turned to say something to me, but I can quite recall what it was. I was a little distracted by black, fluttering objects swirling around his head like a cartoon character after he was bonked in the noggin. It took about two seconds to register that those weren't sparrows, baby. The bats were back, and they brought a pal. This time there were three of them, and they were looking for a place to roost for the day. I'm not sure what the Dutch word for bat is but I believe the term I used was "AHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHH! BAAAAAAAAAAATSSSSSSSSSSS! GET INSIIIIIIIIIIIDE!" No loss of dignity here, folks. The hubby casually glanced over his left shoulder to see what all the fuss was about. "INSIIIIIIIIDE!!! BEFORE THEY COME IIIIIIIN! " He stepped forward and I slammed the door. Then I started breathing again. Did I mention that I do not like bats? The bats were in a bit of a tizzy as well, because the front entry lights were now blazing hot and bright, keeping them from creeping back into their hiding spots. They flew in crazy circles around the porch and front yard while we peeked at them from the window. The hubby was not nearly as impressed as I was and soon took off for work, abandoning me to the creepy clutches of the evil little paragliders. I left the window before the lights cooled down enough for them to ease back into their bedroom over my front porch. It's hard to live in denial if I actually see them go in there, you know. I'm gonna need more caffeine to deal with this one. A LOT more caffeine.

How Cool Is...Oh, Crap!

I suppose that one has to expect these things when one lives in a castle, but let me tell you something...this Queen was a little freaked out this morning! As fall sets in, the days are getting shorter, so it was dark this morning when the hubby headed out to work. I was standing at the big window right beside the front door, looking out as he walked toward the driveway. As he rounded the bend in the sidewalk, the motion sensor turned on the two lights just outside the front door. Then I saw something swoop down and around the light, and head off again. I thought at first that it was a sparrow, because that was the size of the creature. After another swoop, I realized that it was a bat. Now bats are pretty common here and you see them at dusk and dawn, circling around the yards and eating insects. There are lots of mosquito's here, so I tend to like the bats chomping away on them. I soon noticed that there wasn't one bat, but two. They took turns flying under the overhang, grabbing bugs and circling back out. I was only about 3 feet from them as I peeked out of the window, so it was fascinating to watch them. I'd never been that close to a bat before. After about 5 minutes, the lights started to fade out and that's when things took a turn for the worse.
The bat didn't swoop back out again. This time, he grabbed onto the edge of the light closest to the door and crawled inside the opening. He shimmied his little body up into the hole beside the light and disappeared. Ugh. This is not good. Do you mean to tell me that I have a bat living right above my front door? This would appear to be the case. I watched for a while, but he never came back out. I don't know where the other bat disappeared to. The last I saw of him, he was circling the big tree in my front yard. I shut the curtain, went to get a cup of coffee, and stewed on the situation. Bats kill bugs. Good. Bats have rabies. Bad. No more mosquitoes. Good. Creepy little rat with wings. Bad. Hmmmm. Maybe he was just looking for more bugs. I decided to see if he was still in there. Jess took off on her bus (she has zero interest in getting even remotely near a bat!!!), but Brandon wanted to see what was going on before he went to school. We stepped out onto the porch with a flashlight and pulled the front door closed. (The last thing I want is a freaked out bat inside my house.) Carefully, I leaned under the light and aimed my flashlight at it. A creepy little face blinked back at me. Aughhhh! Into the house with the door slammed safely behind us. Let me rethink this situation. Brandon is rethinking it, too. Why didn't he get to see the bat? He doesn't think this is fair. Fine. Back out on the porch we go. I tell him where to look in the hole and hand him the flashlight. He looks. He agrees that it's a creepy little creature, but he still finds it interesting. The bus arrives and takes the braver of our duo away to school. Back into the house I go, door securely closed behind me. Bat=1. Queen=0. I'm gonna need more coffee to work this one out.