Monday, August 29, 2016

Johnny's turn at bat

 I was in the sunroom, watching Johnny watching Something. 
I knew not what.




 Given Something's proximity to a swallow's nest, I figured Something to be: 
a) a rodent going after swallow eggs or
b) a snake going after the rodent going after the swallow eggs.



 Me: Get down, please, so that I might get a closer look take pictures.




 Eeewww. Eeewww. Eeewww.



 My batophobia kicked in, and
I insisted that the feral beast leave the area immediately.



 Of course he did not obey. Cats never obey...




 ...particularly cats who do not suffer from batophobia.



 So I just googled "fear of bats." It's called chiroptophobia, not batophobia,
which is stupid because I'm not afraid of chiropractors. I'm afraid of bats.



Anyway, I gave up and left the feral beast where he was, getting a stiff neck.
Oh wait. Maybe that's why it's called chiroptophobia? 
Because if you stare at a bat long enough you need a chiropractor? 


The bat remained in place and I sort of forgot about him until I went out to the barn to remove
masks and muzzles just before it got dark and sure enough, as I walked back onto the porch, 
the effing bat decided it was time to do what bats do, which is flap their leathery wings
and fly low and scare the hell out of people.

Have I mentioned I have an irrational fear of bats? 






40 comments:

  1. That looks like a giant bat! I too have an extreme batphobia, an irrational extreme batphobia. I live in an area that has an old underground mine, home of thousands of bats. THOUSANDS. I will not tell you about the many embarrassing things I have done over the years when they have entered my home and flown right at me to try and tangle themselves in my hair, which they failed to do I might add. Its to embarrassing to talk about. But, if I were you, I would put a ladder against your wall and give johnny a little help. Cruel? Perhaps. Necessary? Absolutely. Good Luck Carson.

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  2. soooo funny! I'm sure the stiff neck thingie is the reason for its name!

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  3. Bats are okay as long as they don't get inside the house. They eats bugs, which scare me more. In my area bats suffer from a highly contagious fungus called white nose disease, I haven't seen a bat in 3 years, they all died. I kind of miss knowing they're up there eating bugs.

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  4. You have fear of bats and I try to encourage them to come. Swooping bats mean lovely bug eating bats. I have Anopheliphobia, which is the fear of mosquito bites. Not only to I not want the itching, I don't want the diseases that mosquitoes spread. I'm building a pavilion that I can screen so when I go out in the evening, I will be bug and bug spray free. Send your bat to me. I will give it a good home.

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    1. Bats are wonderful! A single bat can consume 500 insects/bugs in an hour of foraging!!! A large colony can consume literally TONS of bugs a night! We need bats.

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  5. we used to walk Max just at dusk and the bats would zoom and dive and I would cringes and whine.. I don't like them either. but at least JC gave you a warning and you knew it was there..

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  6. waouw! that is news! having a bat for company is a good thing, I think they act as air cleaners

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  7. Well, they sure aren't very pretty, but they are excellent bug eaters and endangered here in New England because of climate change - actually the die off has been swift.

    I miss them swooping across our yard in the evening gobbling up mosquitos.

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  8. I like the little creatures. I'm always sad when people kill them. We are losing a lot of these animals with our established wind farms. Lots are found dead in the fields. Nobody is sure if they are attracted to the buzzing sound or if they just fly into the propellers. Anyway it is a shame that we are losing them.

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  9. Bats are good. Be happy you have a bat. Just think, you'll be getting a week's worth of cardio every time you have to walk by your Mr. Bat, in just a few seconds!!! ;) Sorta of like when you walk into a spider web...which is WAY WORSE!. What's his country western singer name going to be???

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    Replies
    1. How about 'Bat Boone'?

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    2. or, 'Boone, Bat'. Boone, the bat.

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  10. LOL. I bet neighbor's could hear you yell when that cute bat swooped towards you! I like watching the bats at night. They are welcome to eat all the bug/mosquitoes at my house.

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  11. Interesting puzzle for JCC. You, not so much. I'm okay with bats as long as they stay outside. Had to remove two from little house where I lived for almost eight years. My neighbor had extreme batphobia too. Our neighborhood had become something of a bat refuge from all the development going on a couple of miles away.And that whitenose disease was becoming an issue too. I was much happier about the whippoorwill moving to me than the bats.

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  12. Northern AB gal8/29/16, 7:04 AM

    I'm with you on this - irrational or not, I hate bats! A gal that works with my sister nearly rolled her car after a bat started flying around inside while she was driving home from her job at a hardware warehouse. The bat was inside the sleeve of her coat. Gives me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.

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  13. Maybe I'm weird, but I think they're kinda cute -- look like mice with wings. I hate bugs worse than bats, a LOT worse, so having them chow down on the icky insects is helpful to my sanity.

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  14. I'll take a bat over a rattlesnake any day!
    We're going to Pietown on Sept.10th. Want to meet us there?

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    1. YES! I believe Aunt Jean from Colorado is also going. Aunt Jean, are you seeing this? Anyone else among us planning to go? I can think of nothing I'd rather do than sit around eating pie together.

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    2. Woohoo!! I can't wait!

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    3. An American in Tokyo8/29/16, 6:05 PM

      Take lots of pictures!!

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    4. Woohoo! I can't wait!

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    5. Janet, email me when you get a chance so we can figure out where/when to meet. the7msn at gmail dot com

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    6. You all are entering the contest, right?! :-)

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  15. I have no fear of them but they can carry rabies and several have been found that had in a nearby town to us; so fear of them is not irrational.

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  16. Given that rattlesnakes, coyotes, tarantulas do not scare you, one must deduce that your fear of bats is not irrational. Being therefore grounded in science, you must proceed kill the little buggers, aunt Jean

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  17. I love to check out things I'm curious about, so I did a search for the scientific name for bats. Mr. Google said that bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera, hence chiroptophobia. I love bats, love to watch them, love that they eat bugs. In Austin, TX the Congress Avenue bridge has a bat colony living under it - as many an 1.5 million bats. We used to go watch them spiral up from there in the evening to go on their bug hunt. We could leave our doors open in the evening in San Antonio with no screen door and have no bugs. I never had a mosquito bite in the 9 years we lived there. There are so many bats that they show up on the weather radar. We also made a trip to Carlsbad Caverns many years ago and went back in the evening to watch its bats fly out. At least you have just one bat. :) It could be a lot worse!

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  18. We were up in our local mountains a couple weeks ago and I was just standing on the cabin porch at sunrise and a bat flew RIGHT by me! It nearly hit me. I think I would have died on the spot! Ugh. I know they eat mosquitoes, and I'm grateful for that, but otherwise, I don't appreciate them either.

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  19. LOL, I understand. I have an irrational fear of lizards and I live in the desert. Sigh....

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  20. Bats are COOL! Unless JCC has had his rabies shots, I would be careful with him around bats as there is a higher than average incidence of rabies in bats. Nevertheless, bat are COOL! Plus, they eat bugs, as in mosquitoes! I welcome bats to my home (not inside, though). During my time working in wildlife rehab, I have had opportunities to work with bats. They are a fascinating species. Fight your "batophobia" by learning about bats. I used to have phobias with all kinds of bugs, animals, and reptiles. Since becoming more acquainted with different types of creatures that inhabit the earth with us humans, I have let go of those phobias. The only exception is spiders. As long as they leave me alone, then I leave them alone. Unless they are brown recluses or black widows.

    Linda D
    Tucson, AZ

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  21. I was trying to hose a mud dauber's tube off of the side of the house when I noticed a dark smudge way up high under the peak of the eaves tight against the house. I turned the hose on it to wash it off too, and BLEAAAAHH! THREE BATS flew out! Why they were hanging there in broad daylight (just like your bat was) I have no idea. But after their bath, they have not come back. And now I'm sorry, because we have mosquitoes. I'm now considering building a bat house to put up there!

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  22. And I find them fascinating. Other than the fact they carry rabies. They are kind of cute. But if they were flying around me I would probably die of heart failure.

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  23. Besides that bat ... ohhh - Johnny is one long cat. Would like to have seen his parents.

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  24. I love bats! I had two in the house, one in each house I have owned...must be good luck!
    I do an awesome impersonation of one flying towards you....

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    1. Hahahaha. I want to see that, Ethel. We could all swoop around together on the back eighty... lol

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  25. My daughter lives in the Hill Country of Texas and found a bat on her staircase last week. Her hubbie removed it carefully and put it outside. Outside is OK, inside... not so much.

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  26. very impressed with JCC's sleuthing skills! I can't believe he noticed that wee bat up so high...what a good hunter he is!

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  27. An American in Tokyo8/29/16, 6:08 PM

    Eww, not sure if I could handle having a bat so close!!!

    My brother once stepped on one in front of my parents' house and we had a helluva time getting it into a cardboard box so the animal control people could come and take it away. I felt bad because I think my brother broke one of it's wings, but we couldn't just leave it there in case a small child or animal got to it. I was thinking it might have rabies. Ewww.

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  28. "Johnny's Turn at Bat" nice cricket reference. We play a lot of cricket in New Zealand. Just saying...

    Not out (yet),
    Heather

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  29. Ohmygosh, I love bats so so much! I've been so tickled to have them in my barn attic, but am now regularly devastated to find them dead on the ground because my barn cats keep catching them. Sniff

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  30. LOL!! YOU who brave the elements, show strength of character and resolve in living on the land ... afraid of a bat!? ;)

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