Went to the kitchen yesterday morning and found this this (http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x98/3renshordf/P1020698.jpg) in the sink, sound asleep. I petted it and it woke up. Took it outside and set it on a patio table. After about 5 minutes of looking around, sniffing and probably echo locating it flew off into the wild blue yonder. Body was about half as long as my thumb and wing span was five inches. Normal size for a lot of bats in this area.
You're pretty lucky it didn't bite you, I hear those things carry rabies.
Being mammals they can have rabies buts it's far from the norm in this area. My wife and I took a bat course at the local univ. and handled a lot of bats. As long as they don't feel threatened they behave nicely - especially if you have a hand full of meal worms. ;D
Geez, that would have been a shock around here... Don't see many bats.
I get them around here all the time, just as the sun starts to set I see them flying around. It's pretty cool, especially around halloween.
QuoteI get them around here all the time, just as the sun starts to set
Exactly the same here. They are pretty slick animals.
Quote from: KevinG on July 23, 2010, 08:01:39 AM
You're pretty lucky it didn't bite you, I hear those things carry rabies.
Worse than that, I hear they carry Vampirism!
If it had been in our sink I would been awakened by a blood curdling scream!
We have a lot of bats around our home. We consider them an asset as we are told they eat a lot of mosquetoes. You have studied bats so I ask you, is this true?
I wonder how it got into the sink. Do you hear any strange noises at night ??? ;D
I like bats. They keep the flying insect population down. They live on the outside of my house in the smallest cracks and crannies.
Debbie bought a wooden "bat house". I almost killed myself putting it up on a big oak tree. The critters never used it. They like my house better.
Our "inside" problem was flying squirrels. We've had three of 'em in here in the last few years. The cats love to play with them. They are the cutest little things.
Yep! Even better then Purple Martins at eating those little blood suckers!
Check this out:How to build a bat house. (http://www.eparks.org/wildlife_protection/wildlife_facts/bats/bat_house.asp)
I absolutely MUST get my eyes checked again...
You ain't gonna believe this, but...
It looked to me like you wrote that you found a BAT IN THE SINK.
Hal, thank God you read it that way too. I thought it was just me.
I can't believe I am the first one to ask this most obvious question. Just how did a bat manage to find it's way into your house and into your sink?! :o
Hal and I did read that right the first time, correct?
YEESH!!
Holly cow! If my wife would find a bat in the sink I would be peeling her off of the ceiling. She hates any type of critter. She does the cutest little lizard dance when she sees one in the house and I can tell right off with the tone in her voice that I better get my butt in there right now and save her. I think if she went to the sink and found that little guy in there I would have to get a mop to clean up the mess after I pulled her from the ceiling. BTW how do you guess the little guy got into the house?
"Lizard dance" for some strange reason I would like to see that. Surely I'm not alone? I mean YouTube or something? ;D
If ever you are in Austin TX between March and October, make it a point to see the bats at Congress Avenue Bridge. It happens every evening and has (unfortunately) become a big tourist thing. It is claimed to be the largest bat colony in North America at 1.5 million bats.
http://austin.about.com/od/austinattractions/p/Bats_in_Austin.htm
http://www.austincityguide.com/content/congress-bridge-bats-austin.asp
My wife would freak! She hates mice and she'd think it was a flying mouse! Have them flying outside almost every evening. Funny thing is that most years they fly around about the height of the top of the roof. Some years, they will fly lower, as low as head high. How do I know. One scared the bejibbers out of me earlier in the summer passing close to my head at ear level. After I cleaned my self up, I enjoyed watching them that fly that low.
I dont like them. I know they have their place in the world. But not in my house! When they are outside they dont bother me none.
QuoteWe consider them an asset as we are told they eat a lot of mosquetoes. You have studied bats so I ask you, is this true?
They very definitely are an asset. They consume untold millions of night flying critters including mosquitoes. This one probably came in thru an open window and couldn't find the opening again. We like fresh air when we sleep.
Mosquitos or bats? I would take the bats ANY day....they consume mosquitos, and I have NO USE for mosquitos whatsoever........
Mrs.
Cute lil' bugger, he was........
It's funny, but bats and snakes don't bother me. Had that been a common little house spider in the sink, I would have screamed bloody murder................. :-[
To see the lizard dance you have to watch the movie "Matilda" with Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman. When the old Trudge starts to do the lizard dance my kids would laugh there asses off.
Bats will eat more than there own weight in mosquito's a night. And yes they can carry Rabies but then again so can a lot of critters but that doesn't mean everyone has it. Still you should use the utmost caution for you and for the critter. I would use a glove and carefully handle anything so as not to harm it. But if it display seemingly over aggressive behaviour like it would stop at nothing to bite you then it might be worth calling the SPCA instead of just releasing it. Normally small animals once you pick them up will calm down and slightly relax when the relise you aren't going to hurt them, although mice and rats will try just about anything to get away. Having said that I have caught a lot of mice and rats with bare hands by the tail and released them outside after the cat has brought them in the house. Ahh live with cats, I have been woken may times in the middle of the night to chase critters around the house. I have gotten pretty good at it too. But I have never gotten one I thought might be rabid. Put them in a container and look at them without them escaping, if they look healthy they likely are. If they look mangey or skinny and beat up (aside from any damage the cat may have inflicted) then it might be better dispatch it quickly and humanely. Of course you may want to anyways so as to not add to a possible infestation. That is your call. Of course that is more for mice or rats, other animals that are not a nuisance should be set free carefully. Christ I sound like the spokes person for P.E.T.A. or something. :D :D :D
Quoteother animals that are not a nuisance should be set free carefully
So true. The wife and I are members of the hedge hog rescue group of the local humane organization. We have several that live in our garden and the neighboring forest. In the late fall we collect the smaller ones and weigh them. If they're under 500g we take them to a hedge hog center where they are cleaned up, fed and then hibernate. In the spring we pick them up and set them out in the garden again.
That is one neat story. I have heard of bats in the belfry but not bats in the sink. I wonder if it is sick.
Brad
Well, after it woke up it looked perfectly fine. When it took off and flew away I could see it for about 40 meters and it looked like a normal bat winging westward. This is the third time we've had one in the house. They usually hang on the wall and I can get them out before the kitties wake up to their presence.
Maybe he found some of your stash of hooch.. ;D
Quote from: 3rensho on February 04, 2010, 10:48:52 PM
It's been a few decades but we used 95% ethanol and juniper berries, lemon peel, cardamom, a tiny bit of cinnamon stick and probably other things I've forgotten. Reflux for one hour, distill off the 95% azeotrope and dilute to desired drinking strength with water.
That is possible. I've got a couple of liters of locally made firewater - for medicinal purposes of course ;D ;D
Made a lot of inebriating stuff with absolute punctilious EtOH when I was in grad school, but never tried the gin (Jenever) thing. But now that I think about it, seems like a great application for Soxhlet extraction!
What part of Switzerland ?
Wow, another chemist? Live outside of Basel. We had a big, dedicated Soxhlet set up too in it's own little fume hood.
My local firewater is made by a farmer in the village. He's retired now but retains his rights as a farmer. One of which is he can make two liters of Kirschwasser for each cow he used to own because under Swiss law Kirschwasser is considered a veterinary medicine ;D ;D ;D My kind of country.