I once found one in the bedroom which I had to catch. A bit of a surprise and no idea how it got in there, but pleased I discovered it when I did. Couldn’t imagine being in bed and that creeping around 
I had some dear little visitors in the house this week, adorable and pretty, bats. Pipistrelles I am fairly sure, they and other sorts live in my attic, but anyway these ones decided to come in and visit, very sweet. The ones with big ears used to roost quite often in one of my daughters’ bedroom curtains.
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I found a bat on my living room floor one morning, brought in by one of my cats. Don’t know what sort of bat it was. Didn’t seem hurt so I hung a rolled up towel in a bird cage where it could hide safely inside the towel, bought some meal worms and left it alone until the following morning in my bedroom, door closed and window open. Somehow, during the night, it had managed to squeeze through the bird cage bars, which I thought was impossible, and presumably made its escape out through the bedroom window.
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I used a towel to move bats, when I find 'em indoors… but I then leave the towel-and-bat in a quiet shaded spot outdoors (safe from marauders) so it can make it’s own decision on where to go next… 
sometimes it immediately clambours up the stonework, sometimes it just hides…
My bat was lying on a cold tiled floor possibly all night and was a bit torpid. When I went to bed the bat was hanging quietly in the towel, but no sight of it come morning.
I hope it was bats away happily during the night…
Just back from attending to the veg where I found this a little horrified and just wondering if perhaps one of the wild cats killed the snake and this, which I assume is a rat:scream:
Well that certainly puts me off strimming 
Frankly, if you make a lot of noise… and disturbance… chances are any snake will “hotfoot it”
I stamp loudly… and use my baton to whack any grass/weeds I’m intending to set foot into… just in case…
Well my couleuvres in the pond certainly do as soon as I plunge in. I must be really scary. 
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Mouse n° 103 has been caught/released from my house, plus 4 rats trapped and released, and 3 rats were dealt with by my cats. Rodent numbers at home appear to be diminishing at last, but I see that rats are starting to take over my workshop – here are two emboldened rats!
The only cats that come in to eat are neighbours’ cats. The one cat that I rescued about 14 years ago as a kitten, Noire, has lived her life here semiwild and unhappily appears to be gone.
So, the cat feeder will go, the rats will go as a consequence, and so too the neighbours’ smelly uncastrated male cats.
End of an era.
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Not a snake expert, but there aren’t too many that look like that in France, other than vipers. At a guess, a coronella austriaca, aka coronelle lisse, or smooth snake?
EDIT : I would add that it doesn’t appear to have the lengthwise marking along the dorsal line on the top of the back that are usually seen in vipers. The head also seems too oval-shaped, rather than triangular, to be a viper.
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Today’s contribution from me, caught flying around the garden:
A broad-bodied chaser (or darter), Libellula depressa, or “libellule déprimée” in French. For an allegedly most common dragonfly, this is the first time I have ever seen one, and I spent much of my young life near both stagnant and running bodies of water. There wasn’t just one flying around though, I counted at least three, all males (the males have this pale sky blue body), and presumably attempting to conquer, or defend the small pond that we have. The literature indicates that this is one of the first dragonflies to colonise a stagnant body of water, but I can safely say without a doubt that our pond was colonised by at least one or two Gomphidae species before these chaps ever showed their noses (or tails, or wings, or whatever)!
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Our daughter has posted a photo of this dragonfly emerging from the pond in her garden in Munich.
You can see where one of the goldfish has bitten part of its wing.
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What a relief! My little semiwild cat, Noire, who I’ve been looking after for 14 years, is back. I suspected, from what appears to be a minor plague of rodents round my way, and the fact that I’ve let my workshop garden go a bit wild, that she’s been spending her time hunting/eating wild outdoors rather than eating croquets indoors in front of the video camera.
Strange how one can react towards animal loss. The loss of a living being - a cat or dog - can bring the same emotional response whether animal or human.
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A lovely pipistrelle tale
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Lovely story, but we must remember that Bats are protected (certainly in France) and need to be left alone by us Humans… (certainly not caged/restricted)
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I sometimes watch them fly about my garden at dusk. I cannot see where they sleep nearby because I’m in the middle of a village but maybe they have a history at this 309 year old house. 
We had little and large ones in our cellar when we arrived. Tried not to disturb them, but the big-beggar would be hanging upside down right at the level of my face, as I tried to go down the cellar staircase (very confined/very old). I always did my best, but in the end he moved further away from me… thank heavens…
Now, some roost behind our shutters most days… in winter they vanish, probably up in the loft/attics.
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