Monday, January 9, 2012

Haiku Monday: NOCTURAL




Caught out at dusk? Duck!
Echolocating Pallids
pluck insects to death.

* * *

First-time winner and new blogger Scout from Preserving the South is hosting this week with the theme of Nocturnal. Drop on by, read a while, and post your own offering if one comes to mind.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

First! And Blog-Jynx!

Nice haiku!

chickory said...

no, remember Scout won the California challenge with her fruits and nuts and weed haiku. 'member?

I love yours and what a spectacular photo. WHen i read this at scouts i got confused for a minute thinking there were some nocturnal ducks that used echolocation like bats. D'oh!! (ginko bilboa? gotu kola? rosetta stone? remedial reading? i dunno)

Good luck today!

moi said...

Troll: I'll take some Cheetos with that coke, BTW, :o)

Chickory: Oh, that's right! Sorry. My brain. Not on drugs, but still . . . As long as we've lived in this house, we've had a family of Pallid bats who roost and raise their young here from April through October. Make a mess of the stucco, get in the house at 3am and squeal in terror. Still, I wuv them. And I was lucky enough to hold one, too (with gloves!) Cutest damn thing ever.

czar said...

We had a female calico who used to catch bats and leave them for us at the carport door. How she did it, I'll never know.

Great verse.

Jenny said...

we have bats on the island and I had a friend who installed several bat houses on her property one year. Can't remember if anything nested. LOVE "Echolocating Pallids" Perfect!

grins said...

I kept thinking of Jim Carey's albino bat in his movie.

I remember growing up all the girls got freaked out about getting a bat in their hair. Why would a bat get stuck as opposed to say... a finch? I've never seen either.

Great haiku and perfect pic.

moi said...

Czar: House cats are basically wild cats, only smaller.

Boxer: It is nearly impossible to "attract" bats. Or relocate them. Do you remember that tower-like structure across from my patio? SB's attempt to lure them out from under the eaves. Didn't work. The bat heart wants what the bat heart wants.

Curm: Bats get into our house on occasion. I can attest to the fact that they fly like little drunkards. So, yes, they do get caught in one's hair. But it's nothing I get hysterical about.

Anonymous said...

WOW, you actually have pallids living with you. Cool! It is a bit inconvenient having them get confused, and coming inside, though, I have to admit.

Despite being near the river, we seldom see any here. Bad habitat, I guess.

S~

moi said...

Serendipity: Two weeks after moving into this house in March 2002, I noticed these weird droppings on my porch. Had no idea what they were.

A month or so went by, S.B. arrived home from a business trip after dark and I went outside to help him with his luggage. As we headed indoors, we heard this bizarre sound, half peep/half screech. Followed it to discover, clinging to the sides of one of our porch's vigas, this hairless, almost translucent, alien-looking life form that, upon close inspection, we realized was a bat. A baby bat. Crying for it's mommy. It was the strangest yet sweetest little thing I've ever seen. So ugly it was beautiful.

Another couple months went by, it's now the heat of the summer, mid day, and I discovered a gaggle of the little fellers huddled together in a corner of the house under the porch, all grown up and with hair and everything. VERY cute. Took their photos, sent them to a zoologist at UNM who ID'ed them as pallids and said they were probably part of a nursing colony. They've been with us ever since, in varying numbers, April through October each year. I have no idea where they go the other six months out of the year . . .

Sharon Rudd said...

Goodness, there are pet moms all over my blogosphere today. Interesting back story.

P.S. Glad you liked the cake :)

fishy said...

Awesome photograph!
I am forever being surprised by how small bats actually are. In these parts, folks do place bat houses on their properties as a natural form of pest control. It works too!
I think I've read somewhere the military is studying the differences in the echolocation of bats and dolphins. Makes sense as one has to navigate in air the other in water.

Another smart, interesting haiku :-)

Rafael said...

Moi:

LOVED your haiku!

I, too, held a crazy old bat once... damn thing bit me!

Ever since, I make sure my Nonna takes her dentures out before I go in for a hug.

HaHa!

Rafa

P.S. She's cranky as all Hell, but man can she cook up some spicy meatballs!

moi said...

Eggy: Oh, the "pets" I have mothered—it started at a very early age. I can't say my parents were all that happy about the snakes, though.

Fishy: I would love to know the secret to attracting bats. Because it would be great if they left our attic and headed to our custom built bat house.

Rafael: Hah! Amazing what we can forgive, isn't it, for some spicy meat-a-balls?