NEWS

Bat bothers busy lawmakers

PARIS ACHEN and APRIL BURBANK
Free Press Staff Writers

MONTPELIER – Lawmakers ducked and covered. The House chamber was evacuated. Shrieks rose up from the floor.

The cause of the mayhem? A small brown bat.

The winged mammal was trapped in the Statehouse as legislators discussed end-of-session business Thursday night.

"The only thing that can shut down the Legislature is a bat," quipped Rep. Paul Poirier, I-Barre, as he walked out of the chamber.

The bat flew around in circles several times before House Speaker Shap Smith called a 10-minute recess.

Some lawmakers expressed concern that the bat might fly into their hair.

Soon after, the lights were dimmed, the windows thrown open and the chamber evacuated.

"I didn't know we had 150 wussies in there," a doorkeeper said of the lawmakers.

House leadership hoped the bat would eventually fly out of a window.

"We thought perhaps a little bit of quiet, lowered lights and evening air would send our chamber villain out the window," said Dylan Giambatista, a spokesman for Smith, D-Morristown.

While some lawmakers and Statehouse staff huddled in the hallway or held their coats over their heads, other attempted to catch the bat.

Sergeant-at-Arms Janet Miller carried a cardboard box, which she eventually handed off to Giambatista.

Rep. Job Tate, R-Mendon, caught the bat in the aisle near his House seat by throwing his coat over it.

Half a dozen lawmakers huddled around, someone else donated a coat, and the bat was pinned under a cardboard box.

"That's how we roll in Rutland County, son!" Tate said triumphantly from the floor.

The group nearly succeeded in sending the bat out an open window — but then the animal flew into the chamber again.

"It was a team effort, and we weren't able to get it done," Tate said afterward, smiling as other Republicans gave him grief for the failed attempt.

Bats are common visitors under the golden dome. Rep. Doug Gage, R-Rutland, said bats have joined House business three times this year — but Thursday's drama was by far the longest interruption.

When the bat refused to depart, landing briefly near the Vermont seal at the front of the chamber, the House reconvened to get "bat" to business, including passing a capital bill.

The whole batty incident lasted about 20 minutes.