Boat Cruse Guitar, Bat, Porch Boards

Thursday August 7, 2025

Me playing on a boat cruising the St Lawrence River, 

Played guitar aboard a boat cruise on the St. Lawrence River. It was an event put on by Orion Art Gallery as a fund raiser for the Watertown Zoo. It was about 2 hours. Used my Guild Mark V classical guitar, Roland Street Cube battery powered amp. 

Earlier in the day I picked up pine boards for new floor on side porch of our Chaumont house. 27 boards, 1 & 1/8 inch by 6 inch by 8 ft long. Came to a couple dollars over $500.00 withtax. Purchased at Home Depot on zero percent credit for 12 months. Beautiful deal. 

Started the day out by discovering a bat sleeping in our basement. I dispatched the creature. I must seal up the basement. I have no idea how they are getting in there.

Phil Ashwood, Jerry Merril & ? waiting to board boat cruise, Clayton NY

New boards for side porch floor.

Dead bat discovered in basement. Found another one the day before this one. 

Bat in Attic in Winter and Pest Control Guy

 

Bat in our attic in February. I thought they migrated somewhere in Winter.

Saturday February 22, 2025,  I enter our attic with idea of putting a screen over the opening beneath the roof vent so as to prevent possibility of bats entering via that. However, I discovered a bat hanging on a roof rafter. His fur seemed to have a patch of grey or white hair. My research has lead me to believe the bats in our area migrate to a warmer clime in the Fall and return in Spring. Not this one. So I called a pest control guy and he came over this morning (Thursday February 27). Now the bat was nowhere to be seen, but we were not prepared to move through the attic to locate it either. The past week or 10 days the temps have been below zero here, reaching 10 below one night. Of course the attic would  warmer and the bat must be hibernating n our attic. BUT, days later it wasn't in view. I learned that bats will arouse every couple weeks during hibernation and move around.

This close up of bat was cropped from the wider view photo above.

The bat guy said he could find NO evidence of bat activity in our attic. If not for the photos he wouldn't believe there was ever a bat in there.  

One more thing. I have read in many different web sites that bat's do not stay in attics because they are too hot in summer and too cold in winter. Instead they go down in the walls. Sometimes these walls will lead into the basement and bats find themselves there.

A Bat in the Back Shed, Sunflower reflection Photo

 This evening just as it got dark there was a bat flying around in the back shed. The Better Half's daughter H spotted it as she was entering . I opened the screen door and it flew out into the darkness. 

Otherwise It was a warm and humid day. We changed BH's ostomy bag. Nurse Heather came to check. I went to Clay St and finished setting up electric stove / range for apartment #1. Unboxed new refrigerator. Met loan officer at Watertown Savings Bank and got a loan to pay off our Florida house. Back home at 4:00. H & D arrived at 5:00 with a pizza from Nice N Easy. Had good time on the porch and backyard. 

My iPhone says I walked 7,862 steps today.

I have a variation of this photo accepted for the Along The River's Edge exhibition at th Thousand Islands Art Center in Clayton.

A Bat in the Basement May 26, 2024 and Artsy Photo

 May 26 and I discovered a bat roosting in our basement. He was in same place as previous bats I discovered roosting in the basement. I got rid of it, didn't bother to photograph it. This is the 3rd bat I have found in the basement over a 2, maybe 3 year period. My research says bats enter house from up high, end up in the attic. From there they find there way into the basement and ultimately my find their way into your living space. It's suggested you watch your house at dusk (outside) and try to spot bats entering or exiting somewhere along the roof line, chimney, drip edge, soffit and facia. So that evening I did that became quickly bored. So I snapped some photos and experimented with some iPhone filters and other editing tools. This photo of some leaves was one of my creations. 

While watching for bats at dusk I created this artsy iPhone photo. copyright Gary Walts 2024

New Door on Franklin St and a Bat In Our House June 1, 2023

This entry is from a draft I saved back on August 10, 2023. The events took place on May 31 and June 1, 2023. 

Bat on a glue board captured I our home in Chaumont, NY.

 Yesterday I spent most of the day installing a new back entrance door on our lower rental unit at 807 Franklin St, Watertown, NY.  I began about 10:00, had some unexpected assistance by Rick Seymour (my daughter's ex). He saved me hours of work. It was about 80+ degrees. That evening I grilled some hotdogs and the Better Half made a delicious macaroni salad. 

It was good day. I went to bed about 11:00. Three hours later (2:00am) the Better Half woke me and said there was a bat roosting on the bathroom door. WOW! This is the 3rd bat in our house in course of 7 or 8 years. I slammed the bathroom door shut, sealed it up with tape and forgot about it util today.

With bat locked in bathroom I went back to Franklin St house and did some finish work on new door install. At 1:00 picked up a grocery order at Hannaford's. At 3:00 I went upstairs to check on the bat. The animal was roosting on a mirror. I walked up to it with a glue board (designed to catch rat & mice) stuck it on him and it was successfully trapped. 

I capture a bat, seven years after the first one July 28 2022

Bat that I captured 7 years ago on August 16, 2015. He is in a plastic container taped to piece of cardboard.

 Thursday morning at 4:00am we awoke to a bat flying around in our bedroom, seven years after the first time. Yes, seven years ago we had a bat in our bedroom. It's disconcerting to say the least. Just like the first time we were able to shut him up in the upstairs bathroom. It's an ld house and the bathroom door doesn't shut right, so I put a couple of screws in it to be sure it couldn't open. I then taped over the edges where the door meets the frame and floor. About 4:00 in afternoon son in law D came over and we entered the bathroom searching for the creature. Didn't take long. Just like last time this bat had settled upside down clinging to a clothes hamper. On the backside of it, between it and the wall.  We placed the bat in a container and took it to a veterinarian. They are supposed to send into NY State lab for testing. 

I snapped a couple of pix with my iPhone which didn't come out very good. The phone focused on the container and not the bat. I could have used my Sony camera but I was stressed out, tired, and lazy. The photo here is from 7 years ago. 

Half hearted attempt at snapping photos bat that I captured after waking at 4:00 in morning to it flying in our bedroom.

Half hearted attempt at snapping photos bat that I captured after waking at 4:00 in morning to it flying in our bedroom.

Woke up to a bat in our bedroom

Bat I trapped in our upstairs bathroom of our home in Chaumont, NY.  Gary Walts iPhone photo

A few weeks ago we woke up to a bat flying around in our bedroom. YIKES! I hate that.  I should have posted about it then, but my time and ambition were shot. Anyhow, without going into all the datails, we had been in bed about an hour and a halkf when the Better Half awoke to a soft, muffly sound. In the dim light I saw the  silhouette of a bat swooping around our room. Chaos followed. Was ther only one bat or were there more. I thought it flew out the front door. We stayed up until 2:30 and never saw any more signs of of it. We go upstairs and I see it flying in the bathroom, I slammed tghe bathroom door and new for sure it was trapped in that room. Again, was that the original bat? The only bat? We stayed up with the lights on down stairs. At 4:30 tried to sleep in a chair. Essentially I got no sleep that night. I had a photo job in Syracuse and had to depart early. Was home by 4:00 in afternoon. I now ventured into the bathroom, it was day light so the bat should be dormant. Staying close to the floor I examine every nook and cranny and see no sign of it. A clothes hamper  against the wall was the lats place to look. I cxarefully lean it toward me, away fromn the wall. There he was. Cling upside down to the textured surface. He blinked his eyes. That was it. I took a plastic food container and placed in  over the creature. Then I slid a piece of card board under it and he was trapped. We taped the food container to the card board. The bat was alive. We delivered it to a veterinarian's office for rabies testing. Check out the video. It is short, but the funny part is the Better Half's voice as she drove our van and I held  onto the trapped bat.

I capture a bat that was flying in our in our bedroom August 16, 2015

I captured this bat in our upstairs bathroom of our home in Chaumot, NY

The other other night I went to bed and was asleep by 11:00.  At 12:30 the Better Half says she heard something in our room. I was really out like a light. She roused me. Then I see the form of a bat flying around. That is nothing but freaky. Eventually I get downstairs and open front door. The bat is downstairs too. He sweeps around the living room and comes so close to me I duck down. Then I don't see it anymore. I think it went out the door. Well, I want to stay up for awhile to see if it did indeed get out. At 2:30 we figure it must have left. We go upstairs to bed. I open the upper bathroom door and there it is flying. I slam the door. It is in there.
 So then we wonder what to do. Was it the same bat  that I thought exited the front door, or was it a second bat? We really do not know. Now we stay up until 4:30. We decide to sleep downstairs in the living room. But I never really sleep. I want to know if there are more bats. We have no idea how it got in. It was stressful. I finally fall asleep about 6:00 am. I am awake at 8:30 and must drive to Syracuse at 9:00 for a job.
I do my job. I do a lot of google searching about bats. I get home the next day at 4:00 and start searching the bathroom for the bat. I finally find him clinging to the back side of a clothes hamper. I tilt it back. It is day light. He does not flinch. I slowly lower a plastic food container over it. He seems unaware. Then I slide a piece of card board under the container and now have the creature confined. I tape the cardboard to the container.
Earlier in the day I talked with the Jefferson County Health Dept and they encouraged me to try and capture the bat alive and take it to the veternarian's in Limerick to have it tested for rabies. So, with the Better Half at the wheel and I holding the trapped bat we drove to the vets. While on our way I made a short video of it. The animal is quite frustrated, but after I set it on the floor it calmed down and appeared to be contented. We got it to the vets and now are waiting for the test results.

Check out this video of the trapped bat and listen to the Better Half as we drive the creature to the vets: