A little excitement today

last year

I got up this morning to do the usual chores...fill the three water bowls, feed the three cats, give one his insulin injection , strip the beds, start a wash, feed the birds and koi and then sat down with a cup of coffee to read my emails. My newest cat Willy jumped on my lap and put his paws on the keyboard looking intently up the tall window here in the sunroom. Following his gaze, I thought it was a mouse but quickly knew it was a bat sitting two feet from my head. I pushed Willy away and got a small terrarium,gently carried him in a paper towel, and placed him in it. I gave him a few drops of water in a syringe which he drank. Then I went to two nearby towns' local FB pages and posted . Instantly I got a gazillion responses but one was helpful with a telephone number for the Pennsylvania Conservation and Rehabilitation Center for Bats. I called and a woman answered and a few minutes later said a volunteer was nearby. She was at the Aldi 1/4 mile away and came up with her little carrier and put him in it. She's a former policewoman and volunteers with the group and gives lectures. I told her she was preaching to the choir and I had a bat house on my house, never ever use any pesticides, had bees for 25 years and would never kill anything but lantern flies. If I see a spider, I put it on my indoor plants. Bats are the sweetest little creatures and just get a bad rap. It all worked out for this little guy. I probably could have just released him in my yard since he was healthy but the question is....where did he come from into a sealed room with 12 closed windows? She said to watch the cats because they see things before we do. I would never have seen this little guy quietly watching me from a few feet above.

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lily316
Original Author

last year

Here is the hero who brought the bat to my attention because I would've never noticed

him.

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Comments (13)

LynnNM
last year
You have such a kind heart, Lilly! Thank you for taking the time to rescue that poor little bat and get it the help it needed!
lily316 thanked LynnNM
lucillle
last year
So happy that you helped the little bat find a new beginning. Bats do get a bad rap, they are enormously useful eating bugs. Some do get rabies, but one can be careful and use a little common sense to avoid getting bitten.
lily316 thanked lucillle
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got a little over excited! am i doomed?
Q
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You may not be doomed. I have volunteer petunias every year pop up where the seeds get thrown from plants. I plant petunias in patio pots and all along the patio more and more petunias pop up. My grandma never planted her petunia patch next to her kitchen door and each year it was a mass of petunias in a 8 X 8 area - she was in northern MN zone 3.
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Exciting Today, But Tomarrow Even Better!
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Comments (17)
Ah well, from the time we bought the house I wanted this spot for my garden. That's my bedroom window, I wanted to smell the roses when the window is open. My husband neglected to tell my that's the north side of the house! They only get 4 to 6 hours of sun there. They all did ok last fall but this spring the roses in the middle and back half just aren't getting enough sun:( So instead of happily buying all the other roses that I had spent all winter making lists of, I'm finding where I can move all these minis to that will fit in with the plants I've already got in.... I'm majorly bummed about this because then I've got to figure out what to plant in here. I think I'm going to move my azaleas in here and figure out what shade plants that would like it there also and that I'd like it. Thing is I don't have any enthusiasm for it. I hate doing something twice, I sweated buckets last Sept to create this garden rototilling up the clay and amending it and then planting the roses in 100 degree heat and babying them though all that heat. It's just killing me to do this and my mini garden is a total disaster now. All the roses were budded out and so far I haven't lost any. I had 25 bushes in there, those were what I was freaking out on the freeze with. That frosted in the 3 week freeze and the frost built there like snow and never melted. I covered the whole bed with the frost sheets and it worked like a green house. I didn't loose any roses, a couple broke some stems because one of my cats walked on it though. I've still got 10 roses to move. So, I'm open to suggestions what you'd put in there.... Pat, I got the dragon at a nursery, it's really heavy made out of concrete or stone. It'd cost an arm and a leg to ship that. I've seen something similar made out of resin though. Most of what I found in nurseries were alligators. I put a link to one I did find in a catalog that isn't too expensive. This particular catalog has all kinds of dragons. They've got a dragon gazing ball I'd like but it's $125. Can't do that anytime soon. Need too many plants still:) However this lawn dragon similar to mine is only 39.95. Mine cost a little over $100 and was a late birthday/Christmas gift:) If I had found this one first I probably would have gotten it. By the way, the alyssum is spreading nice all around the dragon:) I love calla lillies, I have two dwarf ones. I can't keep the cats from peeing on them and so they don't look very nice, they're a little ragged but they keep blooming:) Thanks for the complements though on the mini bed, not any longer there like that! Here is a link that might be useful: dragon
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So excited...and a little nervous (pics)
Q
Comments (2)
Congratulations on your nice score. It should be an easy grow for you in Irvine. More shade will translate to deep green and large leaves at the expense of flower production. The foliage cover of your plant is a little on the sparse side, but in time it will fill up and become a very dense tree. Before that happens, you might need to give it some sun-scorching protection when it gets really hot (90F plus). M. X alba needs acidic well-drained soil with high organic content. So mix lots of pumice/perlite/lava rock/sulfur/compost/peat moss into your existing soil. A great fertilizer recipe I got from a commercial grower is to mix 4 tablespoons of fish emulsion and 1 tablespoon of water soluble 20/20/20 such as Miracle Grow in 5 gallons of water. Use one or two cups of this every time you water during the growing season (for your location, it is probably from April to November). Skip once a month and let regular water flush out accumulated salt. Try it and you will be amazed at the amount of new growth and flowers. Fish Emulsion does smell fishy but that usually dissipates in a day. What I do now is to dilute this dosage by half and use it even more liberally. One other thing to consider is to keep heading back your M. X alba so that it stays shrubby. Its natural tendency is to grow into a 20-30' tall tree in a few years, which will be good for flower production but you will have a hard time harvesting them.
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Just a little rose excitement.
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Comments (4)
very pretty little rose bed and Tropical Sunset looks to be very happy in its new home.It has new growth coming out.One of these days,I hope to have this rose,Love the colors in it. Jean
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JoanM
last year
I had my second bat visit about one month ago. The first time it came thru the fireplace. This current one, I did not witness it coming thru the screen that was closed over the fireplace. The flue was open so I will assume that was the entry point. This last one landed on the floor so I was able to gather it in a towel and place it outside. They have tiny little bodies under those wings.
lily316 thanked JoanM
rob333 (zone 7b)
last year
last modified: last year
Lovely!

Such amazing creatures.
lily316 thanked rob333 (zone 7b)
User
last year
We're keeping a bright light shinning up at the covered decks ceiling, so a little bat doesn't roost there. Otherwise, he leaves guano on our door mat.🦇 We've had "a" bat in our house before. DH ran out of the house to chase a deer out of the rose garden, leaving the slider open & a bat flew into the house. Leaving the door open again, he flew out. We also have a bat house, but no one chooses to roost in it. Early in the morning around 4am, if we're awake we hear the bat hitting the rain downspout as he returns home. He roosts under the spout...and sleeps there during the day. 🦇
lily316 thanked User
OutsidePlaying
last year
Cool story! We used to see a lot of bats flying around in the evenings. Sadly, not so many anymore. I don’t know if the white nose disease is to blame or what. There is a well known bat cave up-river that people go to by kayak or canoe to see the bats flying in the evenings. I know they are fairly well protected there and have been studied in some of the nearby caves.
lily316 thanked OutsidePlaying
arcy_gw
last year
hmmmm around here if animal control finds out you touched a bat (even in a paper towel) they will start bat bite protocol and it's not pretty. Good luck with that.
Ninapearl
last year
one of my favorite things to do is sit on the front deck at dusk and watch the bats swoop around the security light across the driveway where they catch bugs. they are fascinating creatures!
lily316 thanked Ninapearl
murraysmom Zone 6a OH
last year
Ninapearl, I used to see bats swooping around the streetlight in front of my house years ago, but haven't in a long while.

One day the two young boys next door came and got me because there was a bat on their driveway and they did not know what to do for him. I got a long stick and gently got the bat on it and when I lifted it, he was able to fly away. I don't think I would be brave enough to pick one up with my hands.

There were lots of them in barn where I had Teddy. Lots of bat poop on the floor. They were welcomed creatures there, along with the swallows that nested in the rafters.
lily316 thanked murraysmom Zone 6a OH
Jasdip
last year
I like bats! Have never seen one though. I too, put insects outside when they're inside my apartmnet. Except ear-wigs. I hate those things.

Years ago I rescued and rehabbed 2 newborn squirrels.
lily316 thanked Jasdip
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
last year
💚
lily316 thanked cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
Kathsgrdn
last year
Don't have anything to say but wish there was a "like" button.
lily316 thanked Kathsgrdn

A little excitement today

lily316
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LynnNM

lucillle

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rob333 (zone 7b)

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A little excitement today

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lily316
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