Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Bats in your burrs?

One burr, two burrs, THREE LEETLE BURRS HA HA HAAA ( lightning flash and thunder clap)


I've been getting requests to post this story from last year so here it is...

Last summer I was digging up weeds when I saw what looked like a little
black pouch hanging from a large burr plant. My guess is that the little puff ball was dive-bombing
a moth and pulled up too late. It was stuck to a cluster of burrs breathing fast.
At first I thought it was eating aphids or something but it started to bite
at the burr in it's face and struggle to free itself. I ran to the house
to get the camera and some tiny scissors. It was really tricky to avoid
cutting the wing skin as I was snipping burr hooks. The skin was so soft
and flexible and so thin as well. The body was only about an inch and a half
long. As I was cutting away It was furiously biting at the burr and it
kind of squeal-clicked at me as it tried to free itself. I managed to get all but one
burr removed, trying carefully to not touch the bat. Those little guy's faces are
all teeth. I then clipped the branch so they fell together into a cereal
bowl. It seemed to rest for a couple of minutes before finally freeing
itself from the last burr, awkwardly climbing out of the bowl and flying away.

My friend Alison later identified it as a little brown bat. Who knew they were so darned fuzzy?

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