EEEKS!
The economy is bad - I guess that's not a great revelation. One of the issues that has arisen due to the bad economy is that I'm seeing more tenants paying late (during the 3 day eviction notice period and with a late fee). This month was no different, and I had one tenant that paid me yesterday. When I was in town to pick up the rent, another tenant called to tell me that there was a bat in her house. I told her that I was already in town and that I would be happy to stop and remove the bat for her.
I'm an animal lover. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a wacko, leftist, PETA type animal lover that doesn't eat meat or wear leather, but an animal lover nonetheless. I can't say the same thing about tenants, but that's another story. Anyway, many tenants are afraid of bats and will kill them unless I go get them. So, I always like to go rescue the bats from the less-than-lovable tenants.
When I arrived at the house, I found the bat hanging from the living room curtains. That's a frequent occurrance in this part of the country. Bats that are hanging upside down normally won't fly or cause any other problems and can be easily moved into a box. Once I located the bat, I went back to my truck to find a box. As it turned out, the only box I had was a beaten up box that contained contractor size trash bags. It had been underneath some of my tool bags and was in bad condition. I taped the corners of the box back together and took it into the house to retrieve the bat. I placed the open box against the curtain just below the bat and used a small piece of cardboard to scrape the bat off the curtain and into the box.
As usual, the bat seemed perfectly content to be in the box. He didn't move or attempt to fly. I closed the lid and put the box on the floor in the front seat of my truck, because it was quite cold outside and I didn't want to freeze the little bat before I released him.
Since the bat had already found a way into the tenant's house, I didn't want to release him close to her house. I decided to release the bat at the state park, which is located very close to my house. My business in town being completed, the bat and I headed for home. About half way home, the bat apparently started to wake up (it was getting close to dark) and he started scratching at the inside of the box. I felt sorry for the little bat being trapped in the box, but we only had another few minutes remaining before we would reach the state park.
Just before I reached the Park, the bat finally stopped scratching and I assumed that he was settling down. Then, suddenly, just as I turned into the Park, I thought I saw something fly by my head. After thinking about for a second, I convinced myself that it was just one of the floaters I've had in my eye since my recent retina tear. This isn't the first time that I thought I saw something that wasn't there due to these floaters. So, I just kept driving as I was only another minute or so from the spot where I intended to release the bat. I'm sure that you can guess where this is headed. The bat had somehow gotten out of the box and was loose in the truck with me. At this point the bat flew right by my ear and landed on the seat beside me.
Although I love animals, I certainly don't have any desire to be locked in a pickup truck cab with a bat. I immediately stopped the truck and got out. I walked around to the passenger door and as I opened the door, out flew the bat. I'm sure that he was very happy to be free and I was equally happy that he would out of my truck.
I'm an animal lover. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a wacko, leftist, PETA type animal lover that doesn't eat meat or wear leather, but an animal lover nonetheless. I can't say the same thing about tenants, but that's another story. Anyway, many tenants are afraid of bats and will kill them unless I go get them. So, I always like to go rescue the bats from the less-than-lovable tenants.
When I arrived at the house, I found the bat hanging from the living room curtains. That's a frequent occurrance in this part of the country. Bats that are hanging upside down normally won't fly or cause any other problems and can be easily moved into a box. Once I located the bat, I went back to my truck to find a box. As it turned out, the only box I had was a beaten up box that contained contractor size trash bags. It had been underneath some of my tool bags and was in bad condition. I taped the corners of the box back together and took it into the house to retrieve the bat. I placed the open box against the curtain just below the bat and used a small piece of cardboard to scrape the bat off the curtain and into the box.
As usual, the bat seemed perfectly content to be in the box. He didn't move or attempt to fly. I closed the lid and put the box on the floor in the front seat of my truck, because it was quite cold outside and I didn't want to freeze the little bat before I released him.
Since the bat had already found a way into the tenant's house, I didn't want to release him close to her house. I decided to release the bat at the state park, which is located very close to my house. My business in town being completed, the bat and I headed for home. About half way home, the bat apparently started to wake up (it was getting close to dark) and he started scratching at the inside of the box. I felt sorry for the little bat being trapped in the box, but we only had another few minutes remaining before we would reach the state park.
Just before I reached the Park, the bat finally stopped scratching and I assumed that he was settling down. Then, suddenly, just as I turned into the Park, I thought I saw something fly by my head. After thinking about for a second, I convinced myself that it was just one of the floaters I've had in my eye since my recent retina tear. This isn't the first time that I thought I saw something that wasn't there due to these floaters. So, I just kept driving as I was only another minute or so from the spot where I intended to release the bat. I'm sure that you can guess where this is headed. The bat had somehow gotten out of the box and was loose in the truck with me. At this point the bat flew right by my ear and landed on the seat beside me.
Although I love animals, I certainly don't have any desire to be locked in a pickup truck cab with a bat. I immediately stopped the truck and got out. I walked around to the passenger door and as I opened the door, out flew the bat. I'm sure that he was very happy to be free and I was equally happy that he would out of my truck.
Comments (8)
That story was absolutely "batty"!
Account Closed, over 14 years ago
That was a great story! You really need to start filming yourself when you are removing animals or tenents. You might be able to win some money on funniest home videos.
James Ward, over 14 years ago
When I was a child our family had vacations at our cottage (which was an old log cabin). One night a bat got into the cabin. The scene of course, was sheer bedlam. My mother was screaming that it would get tangled in her hair. Of course, I was the animal lover and I was screaming at my poor dad, "Don't kill it!", trying to be heard over my mother's voice. Dad very carefully captured it in a fishing net so he could let it out the door. Unfortunately the poor little thing died. I burst into tears, Dad kindly put his arm around me to comfort me and told me he tried his best, that it was probably very delicate due to its highly developed nervous system. What a great dad:) I must have driven him nuts, I mourned that little bat for days.
Solange, over 14 years ago
We only thought it was Bruce Wayne who was Batman--now we know the truth!
Jon Klaus, over 14 years ago
That's funny!!! you sure you should be driving yet if you're still seeing things or not realizing that there is a bat in your truck :) I'd get a chauffeur
Nick J., over 14 years ago
You are a good man regardless of what your tenants say about you :-)
Michael Zuber, over 14 years ago
One thing is for sure, you don't lead a boring life!
Account Closed, over 14 years ago
And some people say you don't have a heart, Mike! It would have been fun to be a fly on the wall of your truck while all the chaos was going on. That said, good thing the bat didn't cause you to get into an accident.
Joshua Dorkin, over 14 years ago