Bats!!

I know, I've heard...a single bat can eat over 600 insects a day. And in a part of the country where blood sucking mosquitoes can run rampant that's got to be a good thing, right?  Well, if that statistic is true, over 60,000 insects a night are being consumed right here at the lodge, because we have hundreds of bats flying around our heads outside every evening. The good news is that neither Marie nor I have had a mosquito bite since we arrived at Elk Lake. 

Bats in the great outdoors don't really bother me or Marie either.  Zoe could care less. But the bats are not confined to the outdoors, unfortunately.  At least every other night we have a bat that has managed to find its way into the lodge itself.  It will fly around and around and if we are downstairs we are continuously buzz-bombed by the little beast who is probably as scared of the potential for a life altering contact as we are.

They are very small, brown and apparently can fit into a hole the size of a dime. I think I have identified the little critters from amoung the 15 species of bats that live in Montana (it's the biologist in me). They are the Little Brown Myotis whose common name is conveniently the little brown bat.  

This is one of the little buggers on the inside of a window screen in the dining room of the lodge (no guests around, fortunately). Soon after this picture was taken, we captured it and released it outside.

They have found their way into the lodge attic and rafters and can actually be observed emerging from under a log beam after the sun goes down. Jake has been battling these guys for some time.  He sprays insulating foam in spots where he thinks they are getting into the rafters and built a couple of tubes with little revolving doors so the bats can get out but not back in (in theory.). 

One of Jake's "bat traps."

He has not tried dynamite yet, but the hilarious comparison of Jake and his bats to Bill Murray and his golphers in Caddy Shack are unmistakable.

They really appear to be harmless.  They can be flying all around you and never come close to touching you. The lodge actually has bat houses on both sides of the building where the little dudes can sleep and breed.  Bats are mostly a boon to the ecosystem.

So here's the ultimate experience we have had so far with the little guys.  Last night a bat found its way into our bedroom!  Our room is very small, about ten feet square. So when there is an animal with a nine inch wingspan flying erratically around the heads of two humans and one dog, there is not much room for error.  Fortunately I was able to capture him (her?) in a towel and hustle the little dude outside. Sure did get the blood flowing, I want to tell you.

Batsky checking out the vino.