There's a bat in the kitchen (what am I gonna do?)

Forgive the terrible UB40 pun, but when we returned home this evening from a trip to the cinema this evening, Flo walked into the kitchen and exclaimed "what the hell is that!?". My initial thought was "errr... there's a shit in the corner of the ceiling", but on closer inspection it turned out to be a tiny little bat!

From Bat in the Kitchen

Flo was a bit shocked and a little bit alarmed and I wasn't too keen to try and move it since I know they're protected species back in the UK and that they have sharp little teeth. So I asked Flo to look in the Yellow Pages or Google for a local pest control or bat specialist. She quickly found someone's number in Den Haag and called them, leaving a message on their answer phone. They got back immediately and Flo had a five minute chat with the guy discussing what we should do.

Following the guy's advice, I used a tea towel and covered the little bat and removed it from the corner of the ceiling and placed it outside in the garden. Since it didn't move, I placed it in a box and left it half covered and I've left it in the little covered veranda at the bottom of our garden. I'll have a look if it's still there before we go to bed and if it is then we'll call the bat specialist again and ask him if he wants to come and pick it up.

I have absolutely no idea how it got into the house. None of the doors or windows are open, so it must have sneaked in some time. Strange thing is that most bats are hibernating at the moment, so it's strange that it's been flying around. Nice bit of excitement for tonight though!