Evicting the Local Wildlife

[restoman]

Today we were working at moving accumulated 'stuff' out of my workshop to get the place ready to be sold. Mark picked up a box of ceramic tiles that was sitting in a corner, and dislodged this little guy from his hiding place behind the box:




Apparently he was hibernating in the house all winter. He was very groggy and disoriented, with sawdust on his face. He did not seem to be injured. I picked him up in an old cap and carefully put him outside on the porch. After a few minutes he regained his composure and flew away.

Comments

[oz-bandicoot.livejournal.com]

I think bats are fascinating.

I've never had one in my own house, but had a few encounters with them. We stayed at Mallacoota in Victoria which is on a lake near the sea. The place we stayed were mud-brick units (hand made by the guy who owned the place). It was an eco-friendly type of place. We were making up our bed on our first night there and noticed a moth flying around the bedroom. Well, we thought it was a moth. Turned out to be a tiny bat! We coaxed him out by turning on the outside lights. I've never seen a bat so tiny! It was amazing.

The botanical gardens in Melbourne have a massive bat colony (flying foxes) and there have been many moves to try to get the bats to move (to no avail I believe). See: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1029_021029_FlyingFox.html

I don't think I'd be composed enough to handle one though! It was scary enough walking under them in the botanical gardens - all the warning signs about not touching them etc!

[restoman.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the article about the flying fox bats at the botanical gardens! Thanks!! If I were visiting Melbourne or Sydney, seeing the bat colonies would be a major reason for going to the botanical gardens.

I am glad that the bat was at my workshop, and not in my house! They make a rather smelly mess where ever they live. I haven't cleared out the attic of the workshop yet. I suppose I might find more of them there.

Any time that I need to handle a bat, I wear heavy gloves or use some sort of protection so I won't get bitten. The last thing I would want would be to spend eternity living as a vampire!!! LOL