When Tamarack went batty.

I think I shall continue with stories involving animals. Mainly since that is what is coming to mind. So anyway here's a story. First person this time.

So the other day I was visiting Tamarack Hall on the BSU campus. It was a typical day a couple years back in the early fall. Actually, it was during the first week of classes. I had been visiting some people and was just about to exit the elevator on the main floor. As I stepped into the lobby it became immediately apparent that something was awry. It wasn't so much that there was a crowd gathered, but they were acting kinda strange. Walking around the corner, I was able to piece together what was going on. It was a mixed crowd of girls and guys. Some girls seemed to be quite nervous, while others seemed to be as active as the guys. The guys where for the most part jumping around waving their hats in the air. As I rounded the corner I saw that these people where attempting to catch a bat in their hats. I immediatly began chuckling to myself -Boy this could be REALLY entertaining to watch. Unfortunately, I seemed to have missed the comical timeframe of the situation, and was noting the despiration some of the people had trying to rid the lobby of its unwelcomed visitor. At one point the bat flew against the window and one individual slowly crept up and -not wanting to touch it- threw his hat over it in an attempt to scoop it up and remove it. The bat of course took off again and hats went flying after it.

This whole while I had casually walked up to the group and weaved my way between them. I was in place the second time I saw the bat come to the window and rest on the sill. Once again the same individual began his approach. "Hold off, I'll get 'em," I said so he wouldn't spook it into flight again. I walked the last couple feet to the sill nonchalantly, then paused reading the bats positioning and temperment. Then, to the appalled amazement of many of the people, I just reached out and gently picked up the bat. Of course the bat's temperment was not such as to just allow this without a struggle, but I was ready for this.

***PLEASE note that catching wild animals should only be attempted by professionals or idiots. In case you want to copy an idiot though, you should know that in dealing with any small animal that will want to bite, you should grab it so that its head is between your index and middle fingers, and use the rest of your hand and palm to refrain the body/wings. With the head between these fingers you can control its head so that it can't position itself to bite you.

Having successfully captured the bat I turned and calmly weaved my way between the slack jawed people. Some people were grateful and thanked me profusely (must have been the desk worker). Others looked at me in disgust -be it for touching a bat, or for ruining their macho man brave image in front of the women. Looking back, I imagine some people would have appreciated a closer look at the critter, but I had it in my mind that this bat had been through enough. I walked out the door and released the bat a short distance from the building as I walked along. At this point I was greeted by someone. Looking up I saw Tina and a few other people from the IV crowd having a BBQ. I had not met Aimee before, but she asked "was that a bat??" "Yes." "That's 'Waterguy' for you," chimed Tina. -To this I had to smile. What a way to be introduced to someone. It worked well though, she immediately had good insight into what I was like. Turns out she was from a farm in SD, so she shared an appreciation for our introduction.

So the moral of this story is: