Suzie (finally!) and a bat

I was finally going to see my friend Suzie again. We had to think carefully about where to meet up. She was heavily pregnant, and due the next month! But I was really glad to see her; the last time I saw her, she must have been pregnant already, but I didn't know. That gives an idea of how long ago it was. (It didn't seem to have made it to the blog.)

We weren't allowed to meet indoors yet, and the weather forecast was atrocious, so we needed something with a roof but no walls. And I suggested we just find ourselves a ruin. I suggested Parys Mountain on a whim. But she thought it was a good idea! In hindsight, I'm not so sure how brilliant that idea was, but I didn't know what her action radius was.

I drove all the way to the mine, and met up with her and her by now four year old son. And we walked to the nearest ruin we knew of with a roof: the windmill. It turned out it was actually quite far for both mother and son! But we were committed now. And we got there.

We set down on the floor and got our flasks out. We both had brought cake! We had enough to catch up on. But suddenly, Suzie jumped. A bat had just fallen out of nowhere and landed right next to her! That was bad news. A bat is not supposed to lie on the ground. And one supposes that a healthy bat doesn't just fall from its perch. What to do? We just googled things like the RSPCA, and local bat volunteers. The suggestion was that a bat lying on the ground is indeed bad news. And I got someone on the phone who would contact someone else who would know what to do, and call me back. But in the time that took, the bat flew up, and vanished in the rafters. Good news! The person who phoned back was not at all annoyed that their weekend had been disturbed; they were merely happy the bat was okay.

When that was sorted, it was pretty much time to leave again. And we walked back to the cars. It had not been long rendezvous, but I suppose soon we will just be able to meet up in her garden, and that is logistically a lot simpler. I look forward to it!

probably a brown long-eared bat