Thursday, January 28, 2010

Bat Strike

A bat flew into my left chin tonight. That's a first for me. I've had owls hit me on the head a couple times, but never a bat. Mr. Bat probably thought I was a slow moving tree. They have that special radar, and so they're supposed to avoid runners. I see them all the time when I have a headlamp on--they zip by at fast sharp angles.

The bat attack went down in the Connelly Creek area, just past the s turn by the fallen log, in the darkest part of the whole Sehome loop. About 5:50 PM, no headlamp. Technically, I never saw the bat, and so I can't give much of a statement as to the particulars, but it flew at me like a bat does and it felt like a bat wing. It happened so quick that it wasn't that ewww. But then you think about it, and then yeah, it's ewww.

Of coure, rabies is a concern with any personal bat encounter, but there was no break in skin, no bite, and I'm sure it's fine. I had to go through a rabies cycle about 12 years ago, because a dog attacked me in Nepal. It was one of those really tiny lapdogs with some sort of little dog attitude. Or maybe it had rabies. Dog rushed me from behind, my first day in town, and I did a 40 inch vertical jump when it bit my leg. The whole thing was a real big pain.

Near full moon tonight. Scattered clouds, the moon peeking through as I ran up the pier towards the Chrysalis.  A pretty good running week so far, nine miles tonight. I'm trying to bump up my weekday mileage just a bit.

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