My Messenger Bat

The other night I had a bat in my house. Yes, a real, live bat. It was complicated by the fact that I’m here alone and I can’t walk.

My cat alerted me to the bat. It must have been inside for hours because it had been that long since I opened the door. My cat was very excited by this mouse/bird hybrid (“It’s my lucky day!”) and she nearly caught it. But it was a quick little thing, as bats are, and it escaped, making lap upon lap around the living room and kitchen.

Now, many thoughts came to mind, the first of which was that I had to cover my head – you always hear about bats getting tangled up in your hair, in actuality, a myth – so I grabbed the closest thing I could find, a big fluffy red blanket. The next challenge was getting the cats secured so I could open the front door. Not so easy with a bum leg.

Luckily I had left the drapes open, and my sweet neighbor, while out with her dog, noticed that something was not quite right. I must have been a sight, rolling around on my knee scooter with a blanket draped over my head. Then she saw the bat and she and her husband came right over.

Anyways, long story short, after much experimentation, a Google search, and a half hour later, we were able to say goodbye to our cute little friend as he finally made his way out the door.

Poor little thing, he must have been frightened, first by the cat, then by being trapped in a house.

Bats are remarkable beings, the only mammal that can truly fly. Sure there are others, like flying squirrels, but in reality, these are gliders. Their uniqueness often makes them misunderstood, the fabric of horror stories. Some religions and cultures consider the bat to symbolize evil, death, and misfortune, but the bat has a special place in many other cultures. Among Native American groups, for example, the bat symbolizes wisdom, guidance and guardianship. It is a special messenger between the physical and spiritual realms. In Asian mythology, bats are symbols of good fortune, health, long life, prosperity, virtue and natural death. I need some of that goodness right about now.

I’ve always been fascinated by bats and appreciate how they keep the mosquito population down and help the environment as pollinators (we wouldn’t have tequila without them!), but I’ll admit to a bit of fear around them. Now, while I wouldn’t invite him in, perhaps a bat house is in my future.

It is also said that when you have a close encounter with a bat, one inside the home for example, there’s every chance that the universe has been trying to communicate a message to you that you’ve ignored for a while. It feels like the universe has been trying to get my attention a lot lately. Time to get out the journal and get some clarity.

In the meantime, it made for a ridiculously funny evening and a bonding experience with my new neighbors. I was still giggling about it hours later. My life is just never boring!