Slept with a window open. Woke up with a bat in my kitchen [View all]

First real week of summer heat here so I try to cool the house off at night. Have screens in all the windows except one in the LR. Had that one up about 5-inches all night. Went in the kitchen this morning and there was a bat sleeping quite comfortably right above the door to the pantry (it's a 1920s house). Not sure if she is awake or asleep but she seemed quite comfortable there while I made breakfast and lunch. Fearless and docile so far.

I live on the edge of a 700,000-acre park so I get all kinds of visitors and residents. Got a family of birds under the eaves but all the other animals are unmarried. My house is like Noah's ark for the celibate. One groundhog, one rabbit, one chipmunk (adorable), the neighbor's cat. Around sunset it's like a Disney movie as they all forage in different sections of the yard. Two years ago, I put out some seed for the pair of birds which were feeding hatchlings and looked exhausted. They wouldn't touch it but an adolescent black bear promptly crushed my fence and scooped it up. Lesson learned.

Have a pair of grey catbirds that show up around sunset and sing their little hearts out. They are like Jazz musicians with ADHD.

Hoping the bat leaves tonight. I might make a bat house for her on one of my trees but I don't want her to get used to my kitchen.