Trueblood on HBO

Have you ever had the misfortune of having a close encounter with a bat? Don't get me wrong - I think they are absolutely adorable little creatures - but that is from a distance. There are many bats in the house superstitions that have lasted for centuries and can scare almost anyone.

A while ago I did have a bat visit my home. The little bugger flew in through a window I had cracked open just a bit. He visited every room on the first floor of my home by usually flying in circles with an occasionally swoop downwards.

Even though I'm not a naive 5 year old, I still watched one too many vampire movies in my younger years to let go of the old "blood sucking bat" superstition. Or the one that states that vampires turn into bats. Granted, I'm a huge fan of the "True Blood" HBO series and some of those vampires do seem a bit appealing.

Then there are those scenes in the movies where the bat swoops down and gets stuck in a woman's hair. I certainly did not want a blood-sucking little monster attaching itself to my scalp. I managed to call several friends pleading for help with removing the flying varmint from my domain. They all were unable to assist me with the bat removal. Perhaps they too believed in some bat superstitions and were fearful of having the blood sucked out of them.

With no assistance from friends, my bat stake out (no pun intended) began. Armed with a broom, I proceeded to army-crawl my way around my house for the next 2 hours until he flew back out the window. After my harrowing encounter I researched some old bats in the house superstitions from the 1800's. Here are a few of my favorite bat superstitions:

If a bat flies into the kitchen and at once hangs on to the ceiling, it is lucky; but if it circles around twice before alighting, it is bad.

If, in trying to drive a bat out of the room, the creature should fly against a light or candle and put it out, it is a very bad omen.

If a bat flies into your house, look out for bedbugs.

If a bat circles around your head three times, it presages a death.
As you can see, according to several of these old superstitions about bats, I will have bad luck, bed bugs and perhaps meet my demise earlier than planned. I wonder if that means my death will be caused by bed bugs?

Old superstitions can be entertaining to read through. Be them about bats, cats, witches or any of a number of topics. Even though bat superstitions are pure folklore, I'll still probably be army-crawling around my home should another bat decide to pay a visit.