We Had an Unwelcome Visitor

Tuesday evening I was driving home from the Dakota Rice Corn and Soybean Growers Plot Day when Louise called and informed me she found a bat in our house. First let me point out I was "hands free" talking with Louise on my cell phone. Louise had washed the bedding from Laura and Mike's camper that had been rented and taken to Northern Minnesota last week. She had draped the comforter over the chairs the day before to air dry. When she picked it up tp fold it something fell on the floor.

Louise thought it was dead until she heard it making noises. She quickly threw a towel over it a got a big glass bowl too. When I got home I removed the towel and sure enough there was a bat under the glass bowl. I went to the dishwasher and got a plate, tipped the bowl up and slid the plate underneath. Before I took it outside I had to take a couple pictures.

I set the plate down on the driveway, removed the glass bowl and moved back quickly. I did not want the bat to attack me! The bat did not move but I knew it was alive? It was almost like it was playing dead like a possum. I just left it and when I came back in a few minutes the bat was gone. I have heard that bats can be carriers for rabies but Louise said she did not touch it nor did I so I did not think we needed to kill it and have it tested.

I thought that would be the end of it but Louise was trying to figure out how the bat got in the house? I had a hard time believing a bat could have been from northern Minnesota and survived the washer and dryer. Then Louise suggested checking the dryer vent. I went outside the house and looked. Sure enough there was lint in the little flipper and it was held open. I know bats eat a lot of insects, especially mosquitos. So, I did my part to decrease the mosquito population in the neighborhood!