For Old Time's Sake

I descended into the Pit of Despair this evening to put away the jars of maple syrup I've managed to get sealed and to look for some more jars in preparation for the syrup that will be landing in our kitchen after the Big Boil is completed tomorrow.

The area where the canning jars live is off to one side and not under the light. I used to have a trouble light hanging there so I could see in that area, but someone (AHEM A.) took it and never returned it. So I had to make do with a flashlight. I was looking specifically for bale-top jars, which I prefer for the temporary storage of the syrup before I put it in the more modern standard Ball jars for long-term storage.

I saw a bale-top jar in a decrepit old box and pulled it out. And then I nearly had a heart attack, because in the weak light of my flashlight, I could see something moving inside it.

BAAAAAT!!!

Yup. It was indeed a bat. We used to have bats around all the time, thanks to the nursing colony of hundreds that called our attic home. White nose syndrome is probably responsible for the fact that those bats have essentially disappeared.

Except I guess they didn't entirely. SURPRISE!

The bat in the jar wasn't dead, but it didn't look very healthy, either. I left it there. I figured if it was healthy it could get out on its own. And if it dies, it's a lot easier to dump it out of a jar than pick it up with my hand.

Finding a bat weakly crawling around in a jar is pretty high on the list of things I do not want to see when shining a flashlight around in the world's creepiest cellar.

Could've been worse, I guess. At least it didn't fly out at me.

And now I'm going to have nightmares about that.