Bat Man Returns

After several sightings at dusk and in the wee hours of the morning we knew it was time to get Bat Man back. No, I am not referring to the caped crusader from the 1989 movie but the real bat man who drives a bat mobile. His job is to eradicate bats from homes. Bat Man had visited us seven years ago and true to his word: my work is guaranteed, our call for help was answered promptly. We knew of at least three bats who had taken up residence in the soffits near the roof line.

Bats often are a misunderstood species. They are an important part of ecology since they do eat pesky insects such as beetles, mosquitoes and moths. In fact bats can eat around some 600 mosquitoes an hour which is good but on the other hand taking up residence on our property is another matter. In Minnesota there are seven species of bats and there are a total of 1,000 species that live on every continent of the world except Antarctica. Bats are mammals and the only mammals that can fly. Note there is a public health concern since bats can carry rabies.

Bat Man arrived early in the evening and got right to work. We were impressed with his strength as he nimbly moved a 32 foot ladder around the yard and it was windy. His plan: put The Excluder into place. First Bat Man covers the place where the bats are going in and out of with a small screen. Then he installs a one way device called The Excluder which is a long pipe that fits into the screen. Bats can get out but can not crawl back up the tube. Bat Man went around the house looking for other sites to seal up to prevent them from finding a new way in.

Did you know that Austin, Texas has the distinction holding the official International Bat Night called Batfest? It hosts over 150 booths with crafts and food, several bands, awards for bat costumes and yes spectator bat watching.

Well my husband checked this evening at dusk and so far so good... no bats flying around the yard. But will keep you posted with any new developments. For me I felt safer inside looking at recipes. The following looked like a great possibility to try with kids. It looks quite easy.

Bat Cupcakes from The Daily Southern

Bat Cupcakes make a great Halloween dessert. They are so quick and easy to make, but the kids seem to really love them.

Ingredients needed:

• 1 package of chocolate cake mix (or your own favorite recipe - I like to add a packet of chocolate pudding into the mix to make it extra tasty and moist)
  
  
• 1 container of chocolate frosting
  
  
• 1 package of fudge striped cookies
  
  
• 1 package of Hershey's kisses
  
  
• 1 tube of red gel decorator icing
  
  

1. Prepare the cake mix according to directions on the package (throw in the pudding if you like). Pour into muffin tins and bake. For added fun, use Halloween paper liners.
   
   
2. Allow cupcakes to completely cool. They can even be prepared ahead of time and then decorated when you are ready.
   
   
3. Ice the cupcakes with the chocolate frosting.
   
   
4. Break the fudge striped cookies in half and place them on the cupcake with the stripe sides down. If you want the bats to be 'in flight' you can poke the wings into the cupcake with the striped side facing the back.
   
   
5. Place an unwrapped chocolate kiss on each cupcake laying on it's side with the point facing forward to form the body of the bat.
   
   
6. Use the red gel icing to make two beady eyes on the pointy end of the kiss.