A Few Bat Stories

Story 1:

Last summer we were watching TV when out from the hallway flew a bat. We had a blanket on the couch which I immediately threw over the childrens heads and covered them with my cowering body. My husband was able to shew it out the door with a broom.

Story 2:

Less than a week later a bat got in the house while we had a babysitter watching the children. She killed the bat and properly disposed of it. She's very brave.

Story 3:

One month ago my husband was away on business. A bat flew in the livingroom. All children were sleeping until they heard me screaming like a baby. I called the sheriff's dept and was informed that they don't do bat removal. I called my husband who was three states away and yelled at him for not being here when I needed him. I called my 15 yr old babysitter who lives 2 doors down. She came over and found me cowering on the floor. The bat was nowhere to be found. She searched high and low. My oldest daughter and I went to sleep in the livingroom on the couch. I awoke at 2:30AM. When I opened my eyes I saw the bat hanging on the drapes above my head. I was petrified but I got all the children in one bedroom. I got a broom and moved over to the bat. I stood there for 1 hour before I hit the darn thing. I hit it many times until I was sure it was dead. My daughter said I screamed really loud too but I don't remember. I disposed of the dead creature without touching it. It was truly the most terrifying experience of my life.

Story 4:

My husband and his brother were here a week after story 3. I saw a bat climbing on a curtain near the door. I immediately dropped to the floor and started blubbering. It took them a while but they got the bat to fly out of an open door.

Story 5:

Two weeks ago I went to bed. My husband had fallen asleep on the couch and the two yr old came to bed with me. I had just laid down when I saw a shadow flying around the room. I sighed, rolled on the floor, screamed for my husband. He came in and the bat flew into the 2 yr olds room, where she of course ran for safety. I was horrified to see it flying and circling her bed and the baby's crib. It flew out of there into the livingroom. All of the children were put into one bedroom with the door shut at that time. My husband had to coerce me to come out but he needed my help to tell him where the bat was in case he lost track. He clipped the bat with a broom but then we lost it. We thought it went outside the open door but later when we were all a little relaxed it came flying out again. It took him a while but my husband was able to kill the bat. We disposed of it in plastic without touching it.

The whole family is bat phobic now. We are constantly looking at ceilings, checking the house at night, checking the drapes, listening for odd noises etc...
My two year old trembles at night and will not sleep in her bed. She is constantly saying that there's a bat here or there. The nine yr old won't sleep in her room. We have taped, plugged and stuffed any hole or space that is big enough for a bat to get through (which is the end of you thumb if you are curious). Our house is not an old house. It was built in 1973. We have done all we can do to the areas that we think might be the bat entrances to our house. If one more bat gets in then we call a professional. As it stands right now we are all traumatized in one way or another.

FYI--I called the local heath dept because I killed a bat on my livingroom rug and was worried about rabies. I was informed that the rabies virus is very fragile and dies as soon as it dries. Any surface the animal touched would not be infected as soon as any wet spots dried.