Flying bat found inside our home

My son woke up to find a bat in his room this week. He went to school, I caught a bat. Bats aren’t the kind of thing that I’d like to see first thing in the morning. They are creepy looking, fly irratically, carry disease, and look mouse-like. But I caught it anyway.

Never captured a live bat in the past. Didn’t know the procedure. Didn’t have the certified bat net with custom finger grips. I was in a hurry (didn’t want to lose the bat inside the house), so I grabbed the usual do-it-yourself items; a stick, tuperware bowl, duct tape, and a small piece of cardboard. The hunt was on.

The bat had wedged itself between the box spring and wall at the head of the bed. This made it difficult to reach without moving the bed. Slowly the bed was itched away from the wall to allow dad to reach the flying rodent. The time to act was now.

I assembled the items. I taped the tuperware bowl to the end of the stick using duct tape, it resembled a flyswatter. The open end of the bowl faced away from the stick to allow the bat to be covered. The cardboard piece would the slipped  under the bowl, allowing the bowl to be moved to another location for release into the wild. Or back into the room later.

The plan worked flawlessly. I carried the creepy beast outside and placed it on the ground (still covered) and got the video camera. I don’t think anyone would have believed me if I just said that I caught the bat and let it go. I’ve added the release video here.

Sleep tight.