Creatures of the Night!

I have recently been having wonderful experiences at dusk. They fill me with awe and make me laugh out loud. I’ll come to them in a minute or two.

Until recently, when did I last see a bat? Well, I don’t go looking for them, though many years ago it seemed like one came looking for me. I must have left the kitchen door, or maybe the  skylight, open. Entering the kitchen, I was initially unaware of our visitor. But the cats, Bathsheba and Solomon, were more observant, and started leaping in the air. I soon saw why – a creature the size of a mouse was clinging to the Artex wall, just out of their reach. And then it took off, flying back and forth the length of the kitchen, with both cats unsuccessfully leaping in the air as it passed over them. The silly creature – surely I’ve read they have sonar which maps out their environment in detail. The door was open. The skylight was open. But it preferred to stay indoors, in the air, back and forth. Until I picked it off the wall in a towel and took it outside. Release – and it was gone.

Recently, having enjoyed early evening on the patio, I’ve ventured to the top of the garden, sat on a bench and enjoyed the pastel shades of sunset in the western sky behind my home. Until something flittered past my face. So close. And then again. And then with a companion. Several – flittering, manoeuvring with amazing agility, diving, twisting. The sight has been awesome, and I have been returning to that bench for many evenings now. It’s a beautiful experience, and to my mind, not without humour, as they come so close to me. And miss. Every time! I cannot withhold laughter. I’ve tried taking photos, but they’re too fast, I’m too slow, and my iPhone pictures them rather like hazy butterflies.

I’ve read a little about them. The most common bats in gardens like mine, are pipistrelles. And the soprano pipistrelle is more common than the common pipistrelle. Their wings cause them to look bigger than they really are. Remove their wings (ouch!) and you could fit the little fellow into a matchbox. It weighs less than a 20p coin.

But they should clear the air of mosquitos, flies, midges and moths. Just 3,000 a night! Their evening diet equals a third of their body weight. That sounds rather like me when I discovered Indian restaurants.

But in the Old Testament, the Jews were forbidden to eat bats. That’s in Leviticus 11:13,19. They are described as detestable, though I think they are delightful. However, I’m not going to eat them.

And of course, they have a spooky reputation, and are associated with Dracula (vampire bats?) and creepy folklore. Undeservedly, but if they will live in caves and only come out at night…

But my bats (I do tend to think of them as my bats) live in an oak tree, over a bench, and with dusk approaching, that’s where I’m heading.