There's a Bat in the Library!

The Museum of English Rural Life is a humble institution attached to the University of Reading. A couple of months ago, something really exciting happened. A small bat was found inside their rare book store. This apparently doesn't happen as much in England as it does where I live.

Because the universe is weird, though, one of our volunteers and former @UniRdg_Library librarian also looks after bats in her spare time.
— The Museum of English Rural Life (@TheMERL) February 24, 2019

So the bat was captured and identified as a fairly rare species called Nathusius’ pipistrelle. They named the tiny 7-gram bat MERLin after the museum, and he (definitely a he) went into the care of bat conservator Rose-Ann Movosvic.

The tubby bugger.
— The Museum of English Rural Life (@TheMERL) February 24, 2019

You can read about the adventure in comedic fashion at Twitter and get more details in the museum's blog post about the bat. -via Metafilter

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I had a bat in my bedroom a few years back. I was watching Batman Begins in my bedroom. You know the scene where young Bruce Wayne falls into the bat cave and all the bats coming flying at him? As that scene came onscreen, I heard a fluttering and then noticed something flying in my bedroom. Needless to say, I screamed. Then I got out of bed, put a hat on, grabbed a broom and eventually shooed it out the front door. It took a few minutes as it kept circling around from kitchen, to living room, to dining room. What are the odds of that happening while watching that movie?

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I've spent a lifetime evicting creatures from my home, including many bats. I used the "drop a towel on it" method at church once and became the resident expert. So I got real kick over this story and how excited everyone was.

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