Friday, August 15, 2014

I officially live in the swamp

Okay so I don't live in "the" city or even a close suburb.  I live further out...not rural but more rural then say Kenna Brah.  I encounter strange creatures all the time.  Things that unless you live near a waterway or woods you normally don't see in a subdivision. 

The first time I saw an armadillo in my back yard I was taken aback.  Armadillos don't live in neighborhoods!  Of course then the dogs tried to play with it (or kill it, not sure exactly) and it curled up in a ball and I was yelling because rabies, hello!  Anyways since then I have seen some strange things when in my backyard in a seemingly suburban area.

Last night was no exception.  I was watching Shark After Dark when my pups decided they needed to go outside, NOW!  Okay okay geez.  So we went out into the night.  I don't turn on the back porch light because it attracts bugs and then they fly inside when I open the door.  Plus with less light I can see the sky better.  So I was gazing at the stars when I heard the dogs take off running *crap*.  I can't see that well and it was late so I stayed on the patio whispering loudly "come here!"  I could barely make out their profiles along the back fence.  Old man lost interest first and went inside but convict was just staring into the night.  *dammit dog, grumble*.  Finally after a few minutes he came to my side but still wouldn't go to the door.  He was just staring away from the house.  He started whining and looking at me like "don't you see it!" and I was like "uh no and I am not sure I want to".  Then out of no where something the size of a small bird goes zipping passed my face screeching.  I am talking high pitched, ear drum busting screech.  I hit the deck, quite literally...no really that is going to leave a bruise *sigh*.  And he took off running after it.  It slammed into the bushes not far from me.  I only knew where it went because the bush was shaking. 

Convict was staring at the bush, ears up, curious stare, whining.  I was in ninja crouching tiger stance, as in standing, bent knees, ready to pounce...not sure what I was going to do but it felt like the right way to stand.  Of course, me being curious by nature walked up to the bush to investigate instead of high tailing it inside.  I am not sure what I expected, it was very dark.  So I nudged the bush with my foot, nothing.  Hmmm maybe it flew off in all the commotion.  So I nudged it harder, still nothing.  If this was a comedy/horror it would have attacked my face at this point but since I don't live in a movie that (thankfully) did not happen.  Convict was still staring so clearly something was in there.  At this point logic should have told me to abandon my quest and go to bed.  Logic be damned!  I got really close to the bush and started peering inside.  I heard a scuffle and jumped back.  I crept back up (seriously why was I not going inside) and peered in again.  That's when something caught the faint glow of the street light.  Two rather large glowing eyes were staring back at me.  Did I scream and run???  Nope, I said "hi there, and what are you?"  Then my brain FINALLY kicked in and I was like hmmmmmm maybe just maybe I should leave this tiny creature alone before it eats my face.  So I dragged convict inside and went to bed. 

I am thinking it was a bat.  I've seen bats flying way up high at night before but I've never had one dive at my face screeching.  I'm calling this close encounters of the bat kind. 

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