Did you know a fork can double as a helmet? I was not aware of that fact until last Sunday. Laura was attending a Hearts At Home conference and I was babysitting Mason for the weekend. Around seven o’clock that night, Mason and I sat down to eat some supper. Sunday meals are pretty informal at our house. Mason was sitting in his high chair; I was sitting in my recliner, both of us eating and watching Nature on PBS about snakes.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a dark form fly past the doorway of the living room. My first thought was, “how did a bird get in the house?” The second time it flew by I realized it was a BAT!! Now, while I am not scared of bats to the point that I ‘freeze like a cement statue’ or ‘run in circles screaming franticly’, I do have a healthy respect for a flying rodent that has fangs and can carry rabies. As it continued to fly back and forth from the living room to the dining room, I stood up to try and shoo it away from Mason. Apparently, with my arms up in the air waving around, I look like a tasty insect ‘cause it started flying right at me. I duck and put my arms over my head as the bat goes by. At this point I turn around to see Mason with a scared look on his face. But to his credit, he never cried. Then I felt the breeze on the back of my head as it flew past; there go those arms again! I turn around to push Mason’s high chair into the front entry way in an attempt to keep him out of the bats fury. There he sat, with his fork on top of his head like a helmet. I just had to laugh at this point; Mason did not find it nearly as funny as I did though and kept his eyes fixed on the bat. I quit laughing when Mason’s eyes came around and he appeared to be looking right through me…whoosh…another breeze, ARMS UP!!
So, eventually, the bat got tired of dodging my duck and flail maneuvers and landed on the curtain. Now what? How am I going to get this bat out of the house? I bet if I toss a blanket at the curtain, the bat would get trapped under it and I could take bat and blanket outside. Of course, the plan was for the bat to jump off the curtain and get caught in the blanket as it went by. I did not anticipate that the bat would wait until the blanket fell to the floor before jumping off the curtain. More ducking and flailing! After a few minutes, it landed back on the curtain. I need a better plan. Mason was still sitting there with his fork on his head.
I looked around the house and found a large glass bowl and a three ringed binder. After grabbing my leather work gloves, headed back into the living room with my supplies. I was able to get close to the bat and slam the bowl over it. Now I have one VERY ANGRY bat trapped between the bowl and the curtain. It started squeaking and biting at the glass. I managed to get the three ringed binder between the curtain and the bowl, effectively making a lid and trapping the bat. As I walk past Mason with it, he still has his fork on his head like a helmet. I was able to let it go outside without incident and Mason was free to use his fork for eating rather than using it for protection.
