Conservativa

In which I explain why I thought it best to throw away the very nice coffee mug [an elected official] gave to all the participants at the [event redacted] this year.

The other day in Richmond we had a bad windstorm blow through. Winds gusted to 50MPH, and it was windy much of the day Saturday. Coming back to the house, on the concrete, I saw a bat lying there. It was moving. Maybe it got blown into something and was halfway stunned. I figured it would recover and fly away. Monday it was still there. I assumed it was dead so I gently pushed it with my shoe, meaning to push it into the grass. It flapped one wing and squeaked at me. So it was alive!

I went into the house, got two pieces of newspaper, and the mug with some water in it, that mug just because it happened to be at hand. I scooped up the bat with the newspaper and put the bat on the grass. The bat squeaked and tried to bite the newspaper. The bat had been out there several days, so if it was recovering, I guessed it would be thirsty, which is why I brought the water.

So the bat was now face-first in the grass. I poured out the water from the mug, near the bat, so it could drink a little from the grass, and I poured the last few drops over its face, and I could see that it was drinking the water. Then I accidentally got the mug too close and it touched the bat’s mouth.

Ew.

Okay, now what? I like the mug, so I guess I could soak it in a Clorox/water bath and then scrub it. But. What if the bat is carrying rabies, and what if the rabies-infested bat spit could not be washed off easily? I could never again think of the mug as anything other than the Bat Lip Mug.

I took the mug inside, wrapped it in the newspapers, and threw it away. Sorry, [Mr. Elected Official]. It was a very nice mug. Its last act was a compassionate one, giving a drink to a thirsty bat.

Here’s the bat, face-down in the grass, face away from the camera. Still don’t know if it’s going to make it. Photo below the fold, because, let’s face it, bats gross out some people. My guess is it’s a Little Brown Bat, not the official Virginia State Bat.