Early this morning I was woken up by Phineas creeping along the headboard of the bed. "What are you doing, Phineas?!", I asked. He perched above Leotis's head. I was just glad he wasn't above my head, since the headboard is only about 2 inches wide. I went back to sleep and when I woke up, I told Leotis Phineas had woken me up looking at something in the window, and that the other night Selma also woke me up leaning against the headboard looking in the window. I said to Leotis, "I wonder if we have bats.", to which he replied, "We do!". Sure enough, there was a little brown bat wedged between the screen and the storm window. He's still there tonight, and I saw him stretch and yawn and he had a mouth full of tiny teeth. He shifted around when I was taking pictures. I had just read an article the other day in National Wildlife magazine, that said that in some dry regions, the only water for bats to drink is from water troughs for livestock, and that the bats drink while flying so it's better if there is no vegetation around and it's better if the trough is long. Sometimes bats drown and so it's a good idea to put wire mesh so that they can crawl out. So, I was just thinking I bet we don't have bats because our pond is too small and surrounded by vegetation. But, we have plently of mosquitoes and other insects that bats love! So he is a welcome visitor, except that if he returns each night, I will have to get woken up by the curiosity of our cats.
Early this morning I was woken up by Phineas creeping along the headboard of the bed. "What are you doing, Phineas?!", I asked. He perched above Leotis's head. I was just glad he wasn't above my head, since the headboard is only about 2 inches wide. I went back to sleep and when I woke up, I told Leotis Phineas had woken me up looking at something in the window, and that the other night Selma also woke me up leaning against the headboard looking in the window. I said to Leotis, "I wonder if we have bats.", to which he replied, "We do!". Sure enough, there was a little brown bat wedged between the screen and the storm window. He's still there tonight, and I saw him stretch and yawn and he had a mouth full of tiny teeth. He shifted around when I was taking pictures. I had just read an article the other day in National Wildlife magazine, that said that in some dry regions, the only water for bats to drink is from water troughs for livestock, and that the bats drink while flying so it's better if there is no vegetation around and it's better if the trough is long. Sometimes bats drown and so it's a good idea to put wire mesh so that they can crawl out. So, I was just thinking I bet we don't have bats because our pond is too small and surrounded by vegetation. But, we have plently of mosquitoes and other insects that bats love! So he is a welcome visitor, except that if he returns each night, I will have to get woken up by the curiosity of our cats. 
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