Elvis Presley became a national superstar thanks to his good lucks, singing talents, and wild dance moves. But he also learned how to do karate. Perhaps, the King of Rock ‘n Roll put his martial arts skills to the test against an unwanted guest.
Presley’s iconic Graceland Mansion once had a bat in its attic. This happened back when the King’s cousin Billy Smith lived at the estate with the singer. On his son Danny’s YouTube channel, Smith recounted a time that he and Presley fought off a bat.
Smith was the first to notice the creature when he heard it making noise in the attic. He decided to investigate to see what caused the noise. Instead, he got the fright of his life and accidentally stumbled down the stairs as a result.
“I did stumble down the stairs one time,” Smith said. “I’d gone up there and I heard [this] racket and wondered what it was. It was a bat. I didn’t know if it was a vampire bat or what it was. I couldn’t see it at the time so I ushered on down the stairs rather quickly and I kind of tripped.”
Smith quickly realized that he was outmatched. So, he decided to get Elvis Presley for some backup. Fortunately, the singer wasn’t out on tour at the time and was home at Graceland. Together, Presley and Smith joined forces to take down the flying pests.
While it’s easy to imagine an epic battle of wit and skills, Presley’s encounter with the flying bat was quick enough. He ended up giving the animal a good whack with his flashlight instead.
“So he went upstairs and believe it or not we caught that bat,” Smith remembered about that night. Presley wanted to show off the bat to his guests. “He come down and he had it spread out by its wings and was showing everybody. Yeah, he whacked it pretty good with his flashlight, that’s how he got it.”
But Presley ultimately didn’t kill the bat. Instead, he ended up just stunning the creature.
“It didn’t kill it though, I think it just stunned it pretty good, knocked it silly,” Smith continued.
Elvis Presley vs. Bees
It sounded like a wild time to live at Graceland during the height of Elvis Presley’s fame. Smith also described another encounter involving the mansion’s attic. He overheard buzzing in the attic and discovered a swarm of bees had made the area their home.
Rather than confronting the bees, Presley chose to allow a professional to take care of the problem instead.
Smith said: “There was a whole swarm of bees that made their hive there. They had to call out a bee catcher man and he come out and he got them. Thank goodness nobody never got stung…I broke and ran!”
