Bumps in the night...

The last couple of days living in this house have been pretty daunting. Basically every time I walk into a room I’m look to the ceilings. It’s so bad that when I walk into the basement, I’m sneaking around like Elmer Fudd hunting for a wascally wabbit… Let me explain what’s going on… but let me start with a little history lesson… way back in time… When I was a wee lad; my mother and I were in the bedroom. She had noticed something up at the ceiling and was instantly frightened. A bat had flown into the room… She was so frightened by the flying mouse that she ran out of the room and closed the door behind her. Yes, I was left behind in the room frightened out of my mind!!! So after many years later (Today) that horror continues to follow me….

Last week I was in Orlando, Florida for work. I had flown back on Sunday and began to unpack my clothing. As I walked down to the basement with my dirty clothing, I’d notice some dirt on top of the dryer. Then I notice movement in the dryer vent. I instantly thought there was possibly a mouse in the dryer vent. So I decided to turn the dryer on, in hopes that the mouse would climb back out of the dryer vent due to the heat. But then the movement stopped… I then peaked behind the dryer and instantly saw a black mass. Our eyes locked as my eyes grew to the size of a half dollar coin… I could see it hissing at me… (Ok not really) But I did run out of the basement as quickly as possible…

I was in shock… For several minutes I could not focused. I was pacing back in forth between the kitchen and living room… Then after several seconds of breathing heavily, everything became clear… I instantly sent a text to the tenants, “Don’t go into the basement, there is a bat down there, I’m calling the exterminator to remove it”

I then started making calls to exterminators. The time was about 8:30 pm at night...I was able to get in touch with an exterminator and he told me that he won’t be able to get to the house until morning.

I then got a text from one of the tenants, “can you do me a favor then, please?”

I instantly responded, “First off. I’m scared of bats. So no I’m not going in there to get anything. Sorry but no”

She then responded that her boyfriend would go in and get her clothing. I informed them that I will not be responsible if he gets bitten… Sorry…

So Adam comes to my house… He’s a 25 year old standing at my back door requesting a flashlight with a clothing basket by his side. So we go into the basement from the outside. I open the basement door and he sneaks into the basement. I stand outside looking into the window by the door. Before he enters, he places the basket over his head.

Through the window I can see him sneaking into to the laundry room (Elmer Fudd style). He is slowly walking into the laundry room, stopping for a second and looking around before taking his next step. I see him stop at the laundry doorway… He pauses for a brief second as if he’s thinking of his next move. He instantly spins around and runs… I’m standing there in disbelief then I notice the bat right behind him... He bolts outside and trips over his own feet…Right behind him is the bat flying out of basement… I realize that I finally have a chance… I rush in and close the basement door… I’m now standing inside the basement, standing at the door excited that the bat flew outside… I’m proud of what has just happened…

Then I hear something in the background… I hear bat squeaking in the background… I realized that I’m not alone… I instantly run outside and close the door… I talk with Adam and tell him that I heard another bat in the basement… He returns into the basement. He hears the same squeaking but doesn’t know where the noise if coming from. Adam was able to gather the clothing and runs out of the basement.

I had to wait until morning for the exterminator to come to the house. That night I had turn on all of the lights. I also had the television on. My thought was that the noise from the TV would scare the bat away. That night was the longest night that I could remember. I was up almost all night… waking every 1 hour and inspecting the room to make sure that I was safe…

Finally the exterminator comes… We find two more bats in the basement. They were young bats. The exterminator takes the bats and place them in a coffee can to take away from the house. The only problem was that now there was a good possibly that the mother would return. He informs me that the mother would attempt to get her pups  for about a week or so.

So for one week, I have to struggle with going into the basement… So here I am going into the basement looking like Elmer Fudd… Anyway, until next time, happy building….