Driven Batty
Around dinner time tonight I really hit a wall of tiredness. It was a physically and emotionally exhausting day for me (well,most seem to be lately) and I just SAT. Sat on my porch talking to people and drinking as much water as I could hold and feeling bone weary.
The kids began the usual dinner time bouncing off the walls and I went in to make dinner and get them started on the washing and getting ready. (rainy season means LOTS of washing off of mud) As I began cooking up some meat and rice and roasted carrots, a bat descended from our attic. Naomi and I both hit the floor as the bat cruised right in down on top of us. This is not unusual, but this bat just kept coming back. David took both the kids into our bedroom and closed the door and read to them. Meanwhile I stayed out to finish dinner. What a circus. That bat had it IN for me! I kid you not, during the fifteen or twenty minutes it took me to finish dinner, that bat swooped down on me about ten times. After the first few I realized that this bat had issues. And I decided that rather than our usual anti-violence approach to bat maintenance, this one had to go any way it could be gotten rid of. I grabbed my always handy can of DOOM (the bug killing spray they sell in Kampala is called DOOM which is such a cool name, don’t you think?) and a towel and began my insane battle against this small and elusive prey.
I’m glad no locals were there to watch as I made a fool of myself swoop after swoop, trying vainly to get a somewhat lethal sized dose of DOOM on this tiny creature without inhaling too many of the carcinogens myself. The towel was thrown many times, along with copious amounts of chemical vapors.
Some minutes later, I dashed, bottle of kool aid in hand, towards the bedroom door, hitting the floor as the bat descended once again.
We ate a picnic dinner in the bedroom VERY CAREFULLY, because roaches and giant ants in the bedroom are just really not fun.
Now here I sit, older, wiser, racquetball racquet in hand, ready to play some batcquetball . . .
Wish me luck.
And I used to be such a gentle person.
Annelise:
I am SO sorry you have to contend with so many wild things–the bugs are bad enough, but BATS. I wonder if he had rabies?? However, that said, although this was a sad post, it was very funny at the same time, like the batquetball, and esp the last line “And I used to be such a gentle person”
You are a riot!!! I know it probably wasn’t too funny at the time, but just the fact you can write about it and in good humor, shows how strong you are!
Do you have a net and some bananas???? You could try and trap it….Wouldn’t that be a fun unschooling project for the kids?
I remember having bats flying into the dorm rooms at Grove City College quite a few times while I was there, and having all the girls on a hall running for cover in their rooms. We were able to call campus security, though, and that usually fixed the bat problem right up, until the next bat flew in!
What you need is a baseball BAT!
There are two main kinds of bats in Uganda - the type that eat bugs, and the type that eat fruit (the fruit eating ones are bigger). If its a fruit-eater, you may be able to tempt it from its ceiling perch with a tasty fruit treat. Their sense of smell is excellent, but I’m not sure what fruit is their favorite.
If it’s this species:
http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/livstone.html
Please don’t kill it, despite its gruesome visage - it’s already considered “endangered.”
w/ love
P-O-M
remember
Bats happens
Hi Annelise,
I feel your pain. I grew up in an old farm house which had bats on occasion — my worst was when I was about 16 and I woke up in the middle of the night with a bat flying around my pitch dark room…. I had long permed hair (it was the 80s!) and I was scared to death it would get caught in my hair… Carefully opened the door and tiptoed to my parents’ room where my unsympathetic dad told me to go sleep on the couch… Went back in and was able to trap him between the blind and the window which I’d managed to crack open and then pulled the blind down and taped it shut so he couldn’t get back in the room. Slept fitfully and when I woke the next morning, he was gone… My mom has had a few choice experiences too, including a few tennis racquet episodes. Racquets work well — they just stun it and then you can scoop it up and throw it outside… Good luck!!! Jolita
im sorry but i laughed at the bat situation, i bet you reallt gave it to that bat too, and im sure after the circus you were ready to swat at something……sorry you feel so tired