My heart is still racing.
About 10 minutes ago I heard something sparking the electric fence just off the corner of my apartment. Once it registered that the sound was the fence I noticed my cat, Lia, out of the balcony with her head tilted to the side watching something. I walked over to look and figured it was tree branches in the wind. Unfortunately, it wasn't.
At first I only saw wings and thought to myself, "oh no! that poor bird!!!" but a few seconds later I could see more clearly that it was actually a bat. The little creature had it's tiny feet clasped around the top wire and was hanging upside down from it. Every time it's wing or head would brush against the second and third wires it would get shocked. I automatically waited for it to let go of the top wire in one of the moments where its body swung away- then I realized- it was paralyzed into hanging on. Oh at that exact point in time I, too felt paralyzed. I was so stunned by what was happening I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Another part of me screamed from inside "DO SOMETHING".
I had visions of grabbing a big stick and pushing it off, but the coward part of me also pictured it letting go and it's smoking body flying down onto my head. So I thought of a second plan: I would go get the security guard, Sammy and beg him to do something. No, I thought to myself, I can't just tell him since it will take ages for him to know what I am trying to talk about and when he does eventually understand he will simply laugh. It was my only option.
I ran downstairs and he was opening the stupid gate for a car which ate up a solid three minutes. In that time I ran over to the fence and stood below the poor thing making sure it was still, in fact, there. I rushed back to him as he closed the gate. "There is a bat... just.. A PROBLEM WITH ELECTRIC FENCE. HURRY!" He lumbered over to me and when I was able to explain he said he would go grab a long object. He disappeared for a couple of long minutes and I could still hear the clicking of the bat being shocked. Before he reappeared I rushed back over to glance at the fence. The bat was "gone".
I don't know which "gone". There was a horrible smell (still is) and a horrible feeling in my stomach.
And almost worst of all, just as I predicted: when I told Sammy the bat was gone and dead. He laughed. He laughed but it wasn't a laugh at all, it was a long giggle. Which mad me even more angry.
Rest in peace little bat and thank you for saving us from all of those mosquitoes you surely feasted on. I am sorry a thousand times over that our ridiculous human creation and need for safety cost you your life.
"Human tails? Humans don't have tails. They have big, big bottoms that they wear with bad shorts. They walk around going, "Hi, Helen" -Batty
