I grew up in a large drafty 120 year old house. There was no central air so the upstairs was freezing in the winter and roasting in the summer. Another special treat in the summer were the bats that would come in through some crack or another and start flying around in the middle of the night. As soon as I would hear the flap-flap-flap of their wings flying overhead, I would completely cover myself with my blankets tucking them under me, head and all so there would not be any point of entry available for said bat to come in and cuddle! My dad would get the broom and come charging in our rooms usually yelling for us to take cover as he swung the broom around. I was never really sure if he was trying to make contact with the bat or shoo it out. Either way, eventually the bat would either fly back into the hallway and we’d jump up and shut our bedroom doors so it couldn’t come back in or dad would hit it, knocking it unconscious or worse...
And while I realize that bats do have their spot on the food chain and a job to do in our environment, these early experiences don‘t exactly make me feel appreciative of the species. But I will celebrate Bat Appreciation Day with as much zeal as I can muster! I will start by reading one of my favorite picture books Bats at the Ballgame by Brian Lies. It combines bats and my favorite summer activity, baseball. What could be better? Depending on where you live, after you read the book, you could head outside for a late night bat hunt or baseball game! Hopefully you won‘t have any visit you in your house though!
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