On a Winter's Walk

This afternoon, while returning from my regular walk, I came a upon a fairly good sized brown and tan bat lying on the sidewalk in front of the house diagonally across the street from our house.  As a let out a groan of surprise, the bat twitched and attempted to move.  I was sure that he/she was dead, but was somewhat relieved to learn that it was still alive.  As a checked the surrounding area, it seemed most likely that he had fallen from his perch in the palm tree directly overhead.

I figured he/she would be safe for a couple more minutes until I got home and alerted Jim (Dr. Doolittle) to the little bat's plight.  (See earlier blogs regarding summertime visiting bats.)   When I got home and announced my discovery to Jim, he immediately went into action.  He grabbed an empty box from one of our storage cabinets, hurried out and across the street to try to capture the bat and get him to safety.  I followed Jim back to the spot where I found our little bat friend.   Jim patiently and slowly coaxed the bat into the box.  It was more like slowly shoveling him/her into the box with the box positioned on its side with flaps open. The little guy/gal seemed very weak and thin.  Then Jim quickly scooped the bat up into the box and was about to carry him home, when all of a sudden the bat came to life and flew straight out of the box and right up into the sky,

At that very moment, who should appear overhead but our local pair of  kestrels, Kevin and Kathleen.  The two circled for a few moments, and then Kevin caught the bat in mid air.  Kathleen joined him, serving as back-up in case the bat somehow escaped Kevin's clutches.  Kevin made a straight line for the top of the nearest telephone pole where he perched to examine his prey and to confirm his kill before taking it back to a more secure place to finish him/her off.  And Kathleen was not far behind.

It all happened so quickly, that it was hard to feel anything but disappointment.  Here we were attempting to rescue a member of our local wildlife family when we inadvertently ended up assisting Kevin and Kathleen with their dinner plans.  While we appreciate that our kestrel couple diligently keep the neighborhood pigeon and dove populations in check, it's difficult to witness them culling our population of quiet and unassuming bats.

Unfortunately, we did not have a chance to get a good photo of the bat, but Jim quickly checked  online and determined that he/she was a Western Yellow Bat. According to the description, they like to nest in palm trees.  The best we could figure is that he/she had been sleeping/winter hibernating, when he/she lost his/her grip and fell from his/her perch in the palm tree and onto the sidewalk where I discovered him/her.

I guess it was a more natural ending than being smashed to bits by some stupid kid who might have made sport of killing and mutilating the little guy/gal.  The circle of life has been fulfilled.   Click here

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