Bats in My Glen Burnie Apartment?
This visit from a baby bat scared me half to death.
I'm not exactly a "city girl," being that I grew up in the Virginia suburbs of D.C. But other than dogs, cats and the occasional fish, I don't do well with random animals in or around my living space.
That said, I almost lost my mind late last Tuesday night as I packed for my trip to New Orleans when I heard scratching and squeaking coming from the unfinished part of the ceiling in my basement apartment.
"A mouse?!" I thought.
I could see what looked like little feet scrambling and trying desperately to keep itself from falling into my apartment.
At least we were on the same page—neither of us wanted it to be in my apartment.
Feeling big and bad, I grabbed a metal pole and kept my eye on the area of the ceiling where I heard the noise. If a rodent fell into my apartment, I was going to smash it.
As the time passed with me standing there with my metal pole and I prayed the animal would be able to make it back into the ceiling, I realized I didn't actually know what it was.
I remembered my neighbor telling me about a snake she killed by her front door. I couldn't even pretend I was big and bad enough to battle a snake. (And if we're being honest, I'm not smashing anything.)
It was almost midnight, but I had to find someone who could help me. Realizing I live very near a fire station, I decided to play damsel-in-distress and ask for help.
I changed out of my pajamas and prepared to head to the station. Then ...
THUD.
The animal fell from the ceiling onto a box that was sitting on top of my dresser.
Once I stopped screaming, I still couldn't tell what it was. I snapped a quick picture, put on my shoes and ran out the door to find my neighbors sitting outside.
"Um, how are you with rodent-type things? Because I think a mouse or something just fell through my ceiling into my apartment," I said.
"Oh, it's probably a bat," my neighbor shrugged. "I saw like 20 flying out of the chimney the other day."
A WHAT?!
She and her friend could sense I was near a nervous breakdown and graciously accepted my request for them to get the bat the heck out of my house!
A plastic bowl and a paper plate later, what was finally confirmed to be a baby bat was scooped out of my apartment.
"Do you want this bowl back," my neighbor's friend asked.
"I do not," I said.
I left a hysterical message on my landlord's phone (yes, it was midnight), closed the door to room with the unfinished ceiling—leaving the light on because movies tell me that bats and vampires don't like the light—finished packing and attempted to sleep for a few hours so I could make my 6 a.m. flight.
Thankfully I have an amazing landlord who completely patched up my ceiling and sealed off every crevice that could allow anything living into my apartment—all before I returned from my trip.
Does this often happen in Glen Burnie? Or anywhere? Or am I just the lucky one?
See also:
Candy Fontz
10:52 am on Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Love this! Perhaps this baby bat thought you were interested in subletting your space while in New Orleans! Thanks for making me giggle this morning!
Maya T. Prabhu
10:59 am on Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Glad I could supply a giggle. I can laugh about it now. But last week...it was no laughing matter! ha!
Kim Roman
11:00 am on Tuesday, June 26, 2012
When we lived on Ft. Meade, my sons (probably 4 & 6 at the time) and I were snuggled in my bed reading a book early one evening when we heard little scratching noises in the closet. As you were, I felt fairly brave with a weapon in hand (mine was a tennis racket) as I tentatively opened the door. On the top shelf, a pair of beady eyes peeked at me over a stack of sweaters. I couldn't get the bi-fold doors shut fast enough and it flew out of the closet and circled the room several times. Of course the shadows from the lamps made it look like it had a six foot wing span. My boys and I screamed and ran out of the room. Luckily I had the foresight to close the bedroom door and thankfully Ft. Meade sent someone out right away. When, as my boys called him, "Bat Man" (in khaki shorts & a Hawaiian shirt) came out with the little critter in a net, he gave them a little lesson on the benefits of bats. Not the bedtime story we had intended, but certainly a memorable one.
Maya T. Prabhu
11:04 am on Tuesday, June 26, 2012
OMGoodness, Kim. I don't know what I would have done if it was flying around my apartment. Eeek!
John Greiner
11:35 am on Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Hopefully when the landlord sealed everything off he made sure the bats could exit first. While you may find them scary, they are very beneficial to the environment and pest control.
Maya T. Prabhu
11:36 am on Tuesday, June 26, 2012
He sealed the chimney from the bottom and left the top open to ensure there were no bats inside before he goes back to seal the top. Thanks for your comment, John!
Aljorie Stallings
12:32 pm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012
I have actually in the nearly 10 years lived in my Glen Burnie apartment building have encountered two bats on seperated occasions. So yes they are the norm around here!
Deborah
3:52 pm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012
I have also had two separate episodes of bats flying in my belfry....what is a belfry anyhow.. My husband, son and the dog all ran, as usual. I'm the critter catcher of the family. I've found them to be timid, more frightened of humans than I am of them and easily left out if given enough time and opportunity. One I had to capture with a pot and a lid, the other circled the front rom until it 'found' the open door. Their sonar must take awhile to identify where the opening is. After about the 10th circle it found it and left. My husband said he has seen many swarms in the neighborhood flying around at dusk.
Calique
11:22 am on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Your neighbor shouldn't have killed the snake. They provide rodent control.
Now that he is gone, the mice are happy to take up residence.
She should have just left it alone. The snakes around here are generally not a threat to anything but mice.