A vertebrate joins in as does a small dog.


As well as the hordes of beetles we have had a bat flying around recently.  We often have them outside, flying around dining on insects but for several evenings recently have had one in the house.  This has happened on occasion in the past as pictured to the left.  That one was identified as a Gould's Long-eared bat, and this seemed identical.

This has been seen as a gross invasion by the small dog and has led to a very interrupted sleep while herself rushes up and down and round and about trying to catch it.  The bat has been sensible and stayed in the air.

We tried to trap it with a towel but that was totally ineffective, so I made myself a bat-net.  This consists of a scrap of bird netting hooked around some old fencing wire and lashed to a broom handle.  It looks completely naff but last night proved itself to be effective.

The bat flew around a few times with dog in pursuit and then perched on a rough brick wall.  A quick swipe and I had it netted and took it outside where it was welcome to go and do its batty thing.

As I haven't done anything about her for a while here are a couple of images of the small dog, showing off her nice new red collar.












The RH image shows her in her favourite hot weather survival posture: flat out on her green cushion.

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