07 Sep Christy: Shush

Ocheydan, Iowa — Zoey and I made it home for school to start. We brought Cael back with us, and his Dad picked him up. It was cool to catch up with Chase and get Cael on his way back home for school. I was so happy to be home and see that our basement wasn’t full of water. I got Zoey in bed and sleeping and Penny sorted out with food and water. I just wanted to sit and watch a little TV and chill on my couch. Then, don’t you know — a bat started flying around.

I kid you not, a bat. The black-winged critter decided to fly all over our living room, and Penny did not care in the least. I quickly shut bedroom doors and opened the deck door. Penny did not help and just walked out! I called Paul, and he said, “Throw a sheet over the bat.” That wasn’t his first suggestion, but I wasn’t about to get a gun. I ended up grabbing a broom and shooed it out.

Needless to say, I found a bat exterminator a couple of days later. A couple of days later? Yes, because I did not tell Zoey I saw a bat, and I wasn’t about to have a conversation on the phone where she could hear. She would be horrified and probably traumatized, and at this point, I was horrified and traumatized. I didn’t want to add to Zoey’s upheaval from being away from Dad and harvest and starting school.

The bat people came and determined that we have bats entering by our chimney and by a soffit that has an opening. They said you can tell where they’re coming in because, as bats can’t see, they smell their excrement at the entrance. So, they basically poop at the entrance so they know where to get in.

Next week, they’ll come in and seal up all external spots and install a door so that the bats can exit our home but will not be able to return. This is done because bats are a protected species. It is illegal to kill bats because they do so much pest control on their own. They are very special to our environment, but I will be so happy when they will not be in my environment.

Life at home has been otherwise great so far! Crops are nowhere near ready for fall harvest. Everything is green and lush and appears to be looking like a fantastic fall crop. There are definitely spots where there’s been excess moisture, but fields are still very full with crops. We have a few weeks to prepare, so I’ll stick in this holding pattern until Paul and the crew finish up north and head this way.

Labor Day weekend is approaching, and Zoey and I will head out one more time to help out where we can for a couple of days, then head back hopefully for the rest of fall. I’m anxious for the crews to return and get ready to start fall.

Thank you to our 2024 All Aboard Wheat Harvest sponsors: High Plains Journal, Lumivia by Corteva Agriscience, Unverferth Manufacturing Co., Inc., Merit Auctions, Kramer Seed Farms, Shelbourne Reynolds and U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc.