My goal for August was to finish writing the songs for my debut album, TEMPTATION. I was on a roll until the bats…

Trying to Make Light of the Situation 😉

I didn’t know much about bats except for the fact that they are those endangered little animals that I saw in cages at the Milwaukee County Zoo earlier this year and the animals that can turn into vampires in some fantasy stories and films 😉

Although I’ve heard it’s not uncommon to get bats in your home (ex. My friend shared with me that after his father enjoyed a nice shower, she heard him shout for her mother because there was a bat hanging on the shower curtain!) I didn’t think I would have them in my home.

Earlier this month, I heard creatures skittering around in my walls. My cats of course were going nuts, trying to climb the walls to “hunt” whatever it was that they could hear.

I grew up in a house that was built in the 1800’s, so mice in the walls wasn’t something I was afraid of. But just in case they were damaging something, I wanted my landlord to know. The landlord said pest control would soon evaluate the situation.

Before pest control had a chance to come, I was shocked one night to hear my boyfriend raising his voice and shooing my cats out of one of the bedrooms: he had found a bat.

I am someone who absolutely loves animals! But let me tell you, I learned that night that I was afraid of bats. I freaked out like no one’s business!

I needed to go to bed because I had to get up early for my day job. But I had a bat in my home. What was I supposed to do?

My boyfriend said he would take care of it and that I should go to bed. I was freaking out too much to sleep! After double and triple checking my room with him, I felt like I might be able to try to sleep. I tried my best to sleep that night. Having my door closed helped…but freaking out at every shadow that I saw made for a really long day at work the following day.

I found out the next morning that he had been up late researching online (thank you for the Internet!) how to get a bat out. After he gained some knowledge about dealing with a bat, he took the screen out of the “bat room,” left the window wide open, and shoved a towel under the door. The next morning he didn’t see the bat. He assumed the bat had flown out.

After the landlord was informed about the bat in the room, we were told that our bat problem was just a fluke. We were told that many people experience a bat in their homes. We were told that since bats can squeeze their way in, the bat probably squeezed his way in through a gap between our window screen and window frame. Ick!

The timing for the bat was super bad. I had a friend from Spain visiting, and I planned on having him stay in the “bat room” (before I knew about the bat of course!). Since we hadn’t found any other bats, my boyfriend assumed the original bat flew out and our bat problem was just a fluke, like the landlord said. My friend from Spain wasn’t worried about the bat either. So he stayed in the “bat room”. He was there 2 nights, and there were no bats to be found. This entire time the “bat room” window remained closed.

Then, the next night, my boyfriend found another bat in the “bat room!” How the heck did it get in? The window was still closed!

I was concerned that since there was a bat there, maybe there were bats in other parts of my home. Sure enough there were.

My boyfriend found a bat flying around the basement, and my cat was trying to attack it! (Thank goodness my cats had just gotten their annual rabies vaccines that Monday!) My boyfriend sealed off the basement.

The cats’ litter boxes are normally in the basement, so he moved one to the first floor bathroom. Great! Now I have bats in the basement, one of the bedrooms, AND my first floor reeks 😦 I was not a happy camper.

The landlord came over that next morning (a Friday). He looked for the bats and tried to figure out how they were getting in. He had no idea. He told us that he could get a bat specialist to figure out how they were getting in and stop them from returning. The bat specialist couldn’t come  ’til Monday, 1 week from the day the first bat was spotted. That made for a long weekend at which I didn’t want to be at my home.

Finally, Monday came and the bat specialist said we had a family of bats in our walls. He wasn’t really sure how they were getting in either…

He said the ones in the basement were probably getting in through the insulation, and the ones in the “bat room” were probably getting in through the air vents. Ick!

We were told that that day he would seal off all possible entrances for the bats and also put a device up that allows the bats to exit my home but doesn’t allow them to enter again. We were told that within 3 days, all the bats should be gone.

I felt relieved until Sunday.

On Sunday, my boyfriend heard bats flying around the basement. What in the world is going on???

After the landlord was informed about the latest situation, the landlord said that the “bat man” told him that he was unable to put up the devices last Monday and that he would return last Wednesday to do it. Then he cancelled last Wednesday, and said he could do it last Friday. Then he cancelled last Friday and said he would do it this Wednesday. Why weren’t we told about any of this?

Yesterday the “bat man” didn’t come again, and the landlord said he fired him and hired a new “bat man” who would come Thursday or Friday. Well it’s Thursday now, and they rescheduled for tomorrow. Let’s see if they actually come…

When my home is in chaos, I tense up, and I can’t write music. Let’s hope this ridiculous situation gets taken care of. I’m tired of parts of my home being sealed off and having a potent litter box on the main floor of my home…

My boyfriend joked that I should write a song about bats. Sorry, but you won’t find a bat song on TEMPTATION 😉
Stay tuned for the end of my bat story…hopefully next week I will report that everything has returned to normal and that I made a lot of progress on writing music for TEMPTATION. 🙂