
Dave was lying in a dog bed because he wanted to trim the fruit trees.
He needed an extension trimmer so he could get to the spindly branches that have shot past the others on their way to the power lines in the sky. So he went to Home Depot. But the only extension trimmers they had were already open and missing their blades.
Dave decided to install a porch light instead. He picked one out, got it home, got the ladder, removed the old light, cut the wires, did some investigation, tapped around on the ceiling with his hammer to see what was solid and what was hollow, wondered if he should pull new wire for safety, was thinking… when he noticed a bat sleeping about 18 inches away. Tucked into the corner of our very small porch. Strangely furry.
Dave googled how to get rid of a bat. He read instructions for donning heavy gloves and getting a towel which you cover the bat with as you grab it, one site advises singing softly to keep it calm, and then taking it to a safe place, which would be where?
So instead of trimming fruit trees, Dave was lying on the back porch, in a dog bed. Thinking, he said.
Thinking, he said. About what? About how cool bats are? About how they keep all the bugs away from the front porch? About how they are threatened by a fungus that has decimated most of the bat population in the US? About what a rare and precious thing it is to have fruit trees with their own natural protector against insect damage, a winged superhero? Bat Man Dave.
He really needs his own blog, so he can answer these questions.