TheBanyanTree: the bat

[Mike Pingleton]

"What is that? Is that a bat?" A small brown smudge wedged in between the 
top
of the front window and the porch ceiling.

I climbed up on a chair and looked. 'Yep, that's a bat. Big Brown Bat, from
the size of it." I couldn't see its head very well, but the body was nearly
as long as my hand.

Back in high school my science teacher was writing a master's thesis on bat
migration, and on a number of occasions I helped him catch bats, which meant
trips to caves and storm sewers with flashlights and special nets and heavy
canvas gloves. I learned something about bats, enough to tell an Eastern
Pipistrelle from a Cave Myotis. And perhaps a bit about Big Brown Bats.

We all stood on the chair and looked. The bat moved a little, enough to
reveal its head with the big velvety looking ears and tiny black eyes. The
fur was a reddish brown, the color of one of my Golden Retrievers. I took
some pictures with my camera.

We went to the art festival at the park, then returned home to grill up some
fajitas. My oldest daughter and her husband came over. "Want to see a bat?"
I asked.

By eight o'clock the light had faded enough that I thought it might be time
for the bat to go to work. We moved out to the front porch and sat and
conversed in low tones as night fell, keeping an eye on the dark smudge 
above
the window. Suddenly I saw it move, and it moved quickly, launching itself
into the air above us. "There it goes!" and we caught a last glimpse of it
as it made a right turn at the house across the street and disappeared from
view. Almost as if on cue, two more bats crossed the sky in front of us.
What a fine show for those lucky enough to be there at the right moment!

This morning I went out on the front porch with some hope. The bat had
returned to the narrow space above the window. I've been thinking today of
all the bats in my life, the ones in the sewers and caves, the Mexican
Freetails I saw down in Austin, rising like smoke from under a river bridge,
the ones flying around my house while I sleep. I hope this Big Brown Bat
stays with us for a while.