A hotel receptionist near Norwich, England recently received an unwelcome surprise while she was on the job:
Abbie Hawkins, a hotel receptionist, thought her mobile phone was ringing when she felt vibrations coming from her clothes.
But she later discovered the tiny creature tucked away in the padded pocket of her underwear.
As staff and colleagues crowded around, Miss Hawkins, 19, produced the frightened bat, which was the size of her hand.
She said: “Once I realised it was a bat I was shocked, but then I felt quite sorry for it really.
“It looked very snug in there and I thought how mean I was for disturbing it.”
Miss Hawkins said she got dressed at 7.30am and arrived for work at the Holiday Inn Norwich North, near Norwich International Airport without noticing anything unusual.
“When I was driving to work I felt a slight vibration but I thought it was just my mobile phone in my jacket pocket,” she said.
It was not until her lunch break, at midday when she felt a strange movement inside her bra, which had been hanging on her washing line the previous night.
“I plucked up the courage to investigate and I pulled out a little baby bat. I just lost my breath when I saw it and I did not know what it was at first,” she said.
The teenager’s general manager freed the bat in the hotel garden.
“I keep thinking how could I have not known it was there?” Miss Hawkins said. “I will certainly be checking my bras every morning from now on.”
Jaime Eastham, of the Bat Conservation Trust, said they had never heard of a bat being found in a bra before.
But she said the animals roost anywhere that appears dark and safe.
The only thing I can say is that I am happy for her that it did not decide to have a nibble (sorry). And why would she have thought that the vibration from her cell phone would cause her to think that it would cause her to adjust herself.
Interesting. Is that the real bat in the picture??? Or a stuffed fake. I would be worried about rabies!!
That is what I thought too…. rabies. I had a friend who was bitten by a bat and had to endure multiple injections to safeguard her from the disease. I can only assume that it was the real McCoy.
The bat in the picture not only looks rubber, but definitely looks adult-sized as well. I don’t think they would have retrieved the baby bat just to pose for a picture.
This post reminds me of about fifteen years ago when the Weekly World News rag ran the Bat Boy stories supposedly about a boy with bat-like features. Anyone else remember? Come to think of it, here’s a Wikipedia article. Hm. I never realized that the Weekly World News closed shop nearly a year ago…
Hey, there’s a show your group can do (see the Wiki article I linked to) 😀 :ROTFL:
Umm, scratch that- I just read the synopsis…
YES… Bat Boy… I’ve heard of it. Yes, The World Weekly News sadly published its last a year ago. I remember reading the last cover. I never got to read to see if the mummy in the phone booth ever got his phone call or how the mermaid found in the can of sardines is doing.