Oh, the thrill: Bat poop in my sink!

 

Little Brown Bat (from www.mammalwatch.com)

I found bat poop in my bathroom sink this morning, and my heart soared. Johnny, my bathroom bat is back. Year 7! I've been checking the sink every morning and was just beginning to worry. Below is the story about discovering I had a roommate some years ago.

Originally post in December 16, 2011 Included in that post is the story of my bat rescue if you didn't see it the first time. http://grorby.blogspot.com/2011/12/bat-in-my-bathroom.html

My first clue that I had a bat in my bathroom was bat-poop in the sink. I'd go upstairs at night to find lots of little black, mouse-like droppings in the sink, but no bat. Then one night, sick with a cold, I went to bed early and was just drifting off when a small shadow circled the room, illuminated by the light from the TV, and flew into the bathroom. (I should add that nothing about bats scares me. I adore them.) I waited a few moments before getting up and turning on the light. There he was, hanging on the wall above the sink--preening.

Mystery solved--sort of. If this was his nightly roost, why hadn't I seen him before now? Was he a he? Was he/she the first of a colony? Where did he go to sleep?

The ceiling in my bedroom and bathroom is beamed, and to my astonishment, when he'd finished cleaning up, leaving a litter of insect legs and wings, he wedged himself between the beam and the ceiling planks. It doesn't look like you could slip a sheet of paper between them, but he had no trouble at all.

That was six years ago. And Johnny, my bathroom bat, is still my summer guest. He disappears in late fall, but occasionally shows back up in mid-winter. Three years ago, he over-wintered in my bathroom and a friend of his found refuge behind a painting in my stairwell.

Johnny is a male. Males are, thankfully, more solitary. It's the females that form colonies. I've very fond of Johnny, but not nuts about the idea of an entire colony of bats in my bathroom. (For another story, keep reading.)

 This link is to a wonderful story about a baby bat.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/10/lil-drac-orphaned-bat_n_1141191.html

 I'll be offline for the next ten days.

See you in May.

I just received this video. Don't miss it.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/bu_E2f0mQmI?rel=0