Years ago, in my book Do It Yourself Early Learning, I shared instructions on preserving dead critters in alcohol. Over the years, my collection grew to include a baby squirrel (see links below), various birds and rodents, a fetal pig and calf, an opossum, and more. But it all started with a bat—not quite as cute as the one pictured above.

One morning, when my daughter was about 8, she came to breakfast with Froot Loop-tinted milk dripping from her chin and calmly announced that a bat had been in her room overnight—and she’d whacked it with a tennis racket.

Backstory: We lived in a house built in 1903, and bats squeezing their way inside happened a couple of times each summer. We had a strict catch-and-release policy—after all, they devoured mosquitoes and other pests all season long.

Instead of calling me for help, she handled it herself—with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm. The bat was dead. “Can I keep it?” she asked, mid-chomp on her cereal.

I said sure.

It lived on display in her room until she decided she was too old for such things, at which point it joined my collection. It’s been floating in that jar for nearly 30 years now.

Dead Bat Adventure Wrap Up

So where’s the play in all this? The preserved bat became a perfect loose part. It turns out a dead bat in a mason jar is an unbeatable conversation starter—sparking silly stories, curious questions, and plenty of playful banter. First among my daughter and her friends, then with the kids in our family child care program, and eventually even among the adults lucky enough to meet the bat.

Eventually, I’ll get a post up in the DIY section about how to preserve dead critters:

Here’s more on that squirrel I mentioned above:

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