In the dark over night encounter

On a balmy if late summer evening it seemed sensible to sleep with our bedroom windows open. It would produce a through-draught to keep us cool.

But around 2.30am, I was roused by a strange sound and at the same time my wife awoke. When I put the light on we were surprised, if that is the right word, to find a bat zooming around the room in state of panic. It was flying erratically, clearly trying to find an exit but was having absolutely no success.

I am sure our movements and the appearance of the light disorientated the creature and my wife wasn't very happy either. I think she was recalling those childhood beliefs that bats can get entangled in a woman's hair and it requires a haircut to set them free.

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So far as I am aware, there is no proof that this happens, but she hid under the covers, just in case.

However, that does seem to be a deep-rooted belief. Not too long ago, it was believed in the Isle of Man and along the Welsh border that witches could transform themselves into bats to enter dwelling houses, but that did not occur to me. I had no reason to think we had been visited by a witch and, of course, we should never be afraid of bats. What did interest me was precisely which of our seventeen or so bat species was hurtling around our bedroom. I settled for a pipistrelle, not because I could easily identify our visitor in either its present state or mine, but because it is our smallest bat and perhaps the most common.

Pipistrelles, sometimes called flittermice, can be seen almost everywhere in Britain. Indeed, I had earlier caught one that was entangled in some netting on our wall and was surprised at both its strength and very light weight.

However, the problem was how to return this bat to the exterior darkness for it is nigh impossible to catch a healthy bat, despite its limited eyesight. Its incredible echo-location radar-style system enables it to dodge obstructions and capture flying insects in the darkness so there was no way I could overcome such sophisticated navigational aids.

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Then I had a brainwave. Bats operate very skilfully in the darkness so the answer was to switch off the light and convince the bat there was a predator in the room. I selected a small bath towel. Extending it between my widespread hands as my wife put out the light, I tossed the towel into the air so that it floated momentarily. I thought the bat would think it was a dragon – and so it did. When we put on the light to retrieve the towel, the bat had gone. Then we closed the windows.

www.nicholasrhea.co.uk

CW 18/9/10

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