Strange Visitors in the Railway Room

[gismorail]

I was busy working away in my railway workshop the other night and as it was such a lovely evening I had the double doors open. As the twilight started to set in I was aware of something fluttering around above the layout ( I was at the time under the layout) as I got up to investigate I was confronted by a Bat which had flown in and was circling around trying to find a way out again. I watched it for some time and it was amazing to see the way that it's 'sonic' senses guided it round the very cluttered workshop area. and even beneath the layout itself and all at a very controlled way and not once did it hit anything. It eventually became tired and probably 'confused' and hung itself on a support angle beneath the layout so I took this photograph.

 

                                                                                           

 

They rarely are amazing creatures and eventually carefully managed coax it back outside and it just flew off into the night. 

 

Now many of my friends have thought for years that I'm 'Batty' about my hobby but this was perhaps too close to the truth 

 

Got me thinking as to whether anyone else has had any ' strange visitors ' to their railway shed whether it was animal / human etc. 

 

[Guy Rixon]

My wife and I used to have a colony of bats living in the loft. There was a gap in the masonry for them to get in and out. The adult bats politely stayed near their entrance and away from the part of the loft we were actually using. The juveniles, however, were always finding their way down into the habitable parts of the house. They can squeeze through the smallest spaces, and in a old cottage with exposed ceiling beams there were many small gaps in the plasterboarding of the ceiling. Eventually, I got bored with chasing bats out of the bedroom and sealed up all the gaps with a caulk gun, leaving the bats access to the loft only. A year or so later, the colony relocated and they haven't been back.

 

We quite liked our bat colony, but judging by the amount of guano then left on the windowsill under their entrance, you would not want a colony in the same space as your railway. 

[Ozexpatriate]

I had one get inside the house once. We had a stairwell with a high ceiling in which was mounted a ceiling fan. This was on, slowly, at the time. The bat managed to get itself in the rotation of the ceiling fan but flew around in circles perfectly synchronized with the fan blades until it flew elsewhere.

 

With everyone in the house in a complete frenzy it's tricky to get bats out.

[Ian Smeeton]

Tennis or squash rackets usually do the trick.

 

Metal ones are no good, but either old wooden ones, or better still, the modern carbon fibre jobs are ideal.

 

If the bat is in a confined area, it will usually fly along the diagonals (the longest flight).

 

Anything solid it will sense and avoid, but a tennis or squash racket cannot be 'seen' by the bat, so moving the racket into its flight path, it will collide with, and cling on to the strings.

 

At that point, you can put your weapon of choice outside the nearest opening window, and after a couple of moments, the bat will drop off and fly away. It may need a little persuasion.

 

Regards,

 

Ian

[bertiedog]

Don't forget that Bats are a protected species in the UK, and must not be handled or interfered with in any way, call an expert via the RSPCA to advise if you find a colony in domestic buildings. They are quite harmless, but some are carriers of diseases, and all need expert handling, especially if injured.

Stephen

[gismorail]

That's good advise about the tennis racket if my batty friend does return. I was lucky that i managed to get the little fellow to find the open door way. We did have a conversation while he was hanging around the railway room during which I explained that due to him being a protected species he had to go as I did not want to suspend work on my railway worksite.