Bat, Dora Blankets and Front Yard

I woke Friday morning at 3:02 to Mike sitting up saying "What was that?"  I immediately assumed someone was breaking in to our house.  With my heart pounding I begged him to turn the lights on.  He quietly reached for what I thought was his gun, but turned on his lamp instead and waited....

He told me he heard something hitting the wall, bumping his lamp shade and knocking behind our bed.  I assumed mouse or raccoon.  Raccoon?  Really Heidi?

I asked Mike to look under our bed as I boogied out of our room.  Once safe on the sofa in the living room with my feet up,  I saw it.  I managed to squeal, "Oh God it's in the living room" as I ducked down and threw a Dora the Explorer blanket over my head. 

Sure enough, we had a bat.

Mike pondered what to hit the bat with while I stayed hidden under Dora on the couch, peeking occasionally to watch the dark brown flying object circle the living room.  That's when it occurred to me. What if it landed on me?  I had to make a run for it.  Don't these things carry rabies?

I suggested Mike grab the baseball bat out of the kids room as I darted back into our bedroom and hid behind the cracked open door.  I watched as Mike in his wife-beater began swinging at the bat in the living room.  On the fourth swing, I heard the thunk as it landed beside the sofa.

Knowing a bat had been in our bedroom, circled our heads and was bumping into the lamp on a nightstand while we slept... lets just say it was tough falling back to sleep after the fact.  With that, I'd like to thank Mike for dealing with the intruder as well as Dora for her protection.  Amen.

Perhaps if I hadn't been woken during a REM cycle, I may have thought to grab my camera, documenting the ordeal for all time.  However, that wasn't in the cards.  Therefore, I'll share photos of our staked-out house instead.  It's a happier thought.  At least to me.

If you look really, really close, squint your eyes and stick out your tongue, you might see a few orange flags above.  I took the photo standing in our front yard.

 

A little closer.  I'm on the driveway, looking toward our house. 

 

This is the view while standing on my front porch.  Hopefully this will make more sense soon.  I wonder if bats live around here...