http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sp ... ml?hpid=z5
Hawthorne has no aversion to bats, rather a "long and deep affection," she said, and "respect, but no fear," which developed from her reading Randall Jarrell's "The Bat-Poet" as a youngster.
"I didn't want it hurt or frightened," she said. Realizing that the bat was too fast and agile for her to capture, she opened a window and took out the screen.
"The second that air change happened," she said, "the bat flew out my window."
The next day, she related the tale to a biologist friend, who was disturbed that Hawthorne had let the bat escape. The animal should have been tested for rabies.
"Thus began my advanced education on bats in the bedroom," said Hawthorne, an editorial and documentary photographer who lives on Capitol Hill.