Bat bites woman decorating Christmas tree
(Associated Press )

At Holloway's Christmas Trees, they'll help cut down a tannenbaum, spray it with flame retardant and cover it in fake snow. They just don't do animal control.

A woman draping her tree with lights was bitten Sunday by a bat that had been nesting in the tree. Sheila Kearns thought she had been scratched by pine needles, but discovered the bat on her wall the next day, looking like a medium-sized rat covered in white. "The poor thing had been flocked because it was in my tree," she said, adding that the bat was probably hungry and exhausted from evading her cat all night. Kearns bought her annual pine from Holloway's, a farm 20 miles south of San Luis Obispo. "We encourage the bats because they get rid of the bugs, but we don't put them in the trees," owner Carl Holloway said.

Animal services took the bat, which tested negative for rabies, but Kearns was given a tetanus shot as a precaution. San Luis Obispo County animal services manager Erik Anderson called it "a real fluke." He said it's much more common for a bat to fly down a chimney — like Santa Claus.

Poor lady. Poor bat. The part about the thing looking like a rat covered in white on the wall the next day...this makes me smile.

One of the great things about the Christmas season (which I mean the time between Thanksgiving and New Years when I say it) is the funny stuff that happens. I can't wait to watch "Christmas Vacation" and "A Christmas Story"...ask my wife. There is so much laugh out loud stuff that goes down...So enough of the serious stuff for today! Enjoy it. Sing Christmas songs in a too loud, off key voice to your kids today. Make them laugh...it'll do you good!