if my name happened to be Robin...

I would be heard saying...

"Holy swimming rattlesnake, Batman!"

or

"Holy... batwing... umm, Batman!"

I spotted this lovely slithery creature in the pool skimmer flapper thing yesterday. When Reptile Wrangler got home from work he said it was swimming around in the deep end. He scooped it out with the pool cleaning basket that is on a nine foot pole. He then flung it over the fence.   

 Lately, we have been seeing these little bats flying over the pool at dusk, presumably looking for insects. I used to think they looked cool flying around, swooping up and down, flapping their wings like only a bat can flap. Then the other afternoon, I went out for a swim and afterwards, as I reached for a beach towel that was hanging on a hook on the patio... that bat flew out from under the towel!! Oh yes, you're right, it scared the goosebumps right out of me! I guess it is true that bats only fly around at night when it is dark, because this guy was not leaving the shadow of the patio. It darted back and forth for quite some time before landing and "hanging" out under the eaves for awhile. They are creepy looking little buggers when they aren't flying all cool-like at night. And they do hang upside down.

So, yesterday afternoon, after seeing the rattlesnake and getting its picture, I e-mailed the photo to my brother-in-law who lives in Texas. I wanted to have him confirm my suspicions, that it was indeed a rattler, since the Reptile Wrangler was at work and I was on my own here at home with this swimming snake. And yes, he said it was and that it looked small but, "be careful because they can be just as  deadly! "  Then, while he was on the phone I said, "Oh, here let me send you another little goodie that I encountered the other day." So, I quickly e-mailed the creepy bat to him. After a little discussion about it my dear brother-in-law told me  "I've heard people have had them fly into their hair and get all tangled up!" Nice.

Last night, while trying to get my self to sleep, I kept imaging that thing flying into my hair and getting caught. And I pictured my self running in circles, swatting my head and screaming because I couldn't get it out and then running and jumping in the pool hoping to drown it. But instead of drowning the bat started biting my head and the back of my neck and I was still trying to scream, but I started choking on water and then I imagined that the rattlesnake had been in the water too and it started swimming towards me and the bat was still biting all tangled in my now wet hair and the rattlesnake was swimming closer towards me and the bat kept chewing and... you get the idea. "Holy nightmare, brother-in-law!"

See, it's not just the heat that keeps me indoors!