Encounters with Mammals
Just a few minutes ago, on my (almost) daily bike ride around town, I was up on Summit Drive, which is pretty much the edge of town in that area -- the backyards of the houses on my right (as I ride south) give way to cornfields beyond. Suddenly, in the front yard of one of those houses, I see three fairly good-sized deer. I'm not a hunter, nor much of a nature person, so I couldn't tell you much, but I think it was a female and her two young. When I rode past them on the street, they couldn't have been more than ten feet from me. They looked at me strangely.
Earlier this morning: a less than pleasant encounter. Sleeping on the couch, I heard a noise. In my half-awake, half-dreaming state, I thought it was something outside, maybe scratching on the screens. There's a cat which wanders our neighborhood at night, and I thought either it or my cat was about to have an encounter. Coming a bit more awake, I thought the sound might be coming from the fireplace. My cat was sitting in front of the fireplace, looking at it, and then as I got up off the couch, I saw him run away. ("Scaredy cat" may have been coined especially for my cat.) Flicking on the light, I saw that once again my home had been invaded by a bat. About a month ago, I came home late one night to find a very large bat flying circles around my living room. Opening the front door wide, and with the aid of my tennis racket (at least it's getting some use), I managed to drive it out without (I think) killing it, though I may have injured it a little. This morning's bat was much smaller and I'm afraid I killed it getting it out. (I used my backhand this time with the racket, and as any of my old tennis partners will attest, I had a wicked backhand in my day.) Needless to say, it freaked me out a bit. Two bats in a little over a month, after seeing none in the past four summers? After my little "adventure" I went for a short walk around the neighborhood; I was so full of adreneline and drenched with sweat that I didn't think I could sleep. After the first one, every little noise or movement had me jumpy for weeks, so I'm guessing that'll be the case again here for awhile. I just hope it's the last one.
Earlier this morning: a less than pleasant encounter. Sleeping on the couch, I heard a noise. In my half-awake, half-dreaming state, I thought it was something outside, maybe scratching on the screens. There's a cat which wanders our neighborhood at night, and I thought either it or my cat was about to have an encounter. Coming a bit more awake, I thought the sound might be coming from the fireplace. My cat was sitting in front of the fireplace, looking at it, and then as I got up off the couch, I saw him run away. ("Scaredy cat" may have been coined especially for my cat.) Flicking on the light, I saw that once again my home had been invaded by a bat. About a month ago, I came home late one night to find a very large bat flying circles around my living room. Opening the front door wide, and with the aid of my tennis racket (at least it's getting some use), I managed to drive it out without (I think) killing it, though I may have injured it a little. This morning's bat was much smaller and I'm afraid I killed it getting it out. (I used my backhand this time with the racket, and as any of my old tennis partners will attest, I had a wicked backhand in my day.) Needless to say, it freaked me out a bit. Two bats in a little over a month, after seeing none in the past four summers? After my little "adventure" I went for a short walk around the neighborhood; I was so full of adreneline and drenched with sweat that I didn't think I could sleep. After the first one, every little noise or movement had me jumpy for weeks, so I'm guessing that'll be the case again here for awhile. I just hope it's the last one.
posted by Kootch | 3:51 PM
1 Comments:
At least it was only deer and bats. I was reading an article a day or two ago in the Daily Snooze about some dude motorcycling in Wisconsin near Eau Claire and a bear darted out from the ditch in front of him. Sadly, it killed Smoky and left the guy with only superficial wounds.
Now, allow me a minuet to explain my absence from Kootch;'s blog for several weeks.
First, I was unable to get to the page for a long time. Finally, tonight I linked it from the Winona Boys web site. Seems as though for some reason my old bookmark failed to connect.
Secondly, a series of injuries and illnesses have kept me from spending more than a minimal amount of time on-line since about the 2d week of August.
Usually took time to check my e-mail and the MLB scores, and that was about it.
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