All our childhood Dracula stories are filled with horrific descriptions of these supposedly scary, blood-thirsty, killing machines. The term 'vampire bats' is synonymous with gory, bloody images and thoughts.
However, here are some facts which may change your opinion about these unique creatures and increase your respect for these animals:
An Intro : Mosquitos and leeches are two invertebrates associated with sucking the blood of other creatures. Among mammals, the Common, White-winged and Hairy-legged vampire bats are three species which feed on the blood of other species.Vampire bats usually feed on cattle and sometimes on wild animals like capybara, tapir or peccaries. From their prey base, can you deduce where these creatures are from? Yes, you got it correct. These creatures are found in South America.
1.ADMIRABLE SENSE OF HEARING - Vampire bats are able to distinguish between two humans by their breathing sounds! This has been proved while training bats in laboratory where bats were able to memorize the breathing patterns of individual humans and recognized them at a later time on the basis of breathing sounds. However, in reality, vampire bats hardly target humans for sucking blood.
2. EXTREME AGILITY- Vampire bats move very fast - at the speed of nearly 1 metre per second! After recognizing a target with the help of its admirable sense of hearing ( the bat often feeds on the same target night after night), the bat moves with extreme agility towards the target.
3. EXCELLENT ANATOMICAL KNOWLEDGE- After approaching the target, the vampire bat locates a suitable blood vessel on the target with the help of its heat sensitive nose cell. It clears the area of hair or feathers by clipping it away and prepares the site for blood sucking. It then inserts its razor sharp incisors into the blood vessel and sucks blood for about an hour. The cocktail of enzymes secreted by the bat (one of them called draculin) prevents the blood from clotting.
4. SCARY CREATURES OR SELFLESS BEINGS? - Compassion is perhaps one of greatest features that define humanity. A vampire bat is small in size and the blood it draws from a creature is equivalent to about 1 tablespoon or 15 ml of blood. This act hardly kills an animal except for rare cases where a large number of vampire bats feed on a weak or dying animal. Most animals do not even notice they have been bitten by a vampire bat.However, what these vampire bats frequently do with the blood they feed on is amazing and inspirational. Vampire bats who have not fed on blood for three consecutive day usually suffers from weakness and dies. This is because blood is rich in proteins but not carbohydrates. Hence, a continuous supply of blood is required to keep these creatures alive.
So what if a bat has not been successful in its search for a target? In the bat kingdom, such a weak bat is taken care of by the other members of the society. Often, other bats not biologically related to the bat, may regurgitate the blood it has fed on to feed the unlucky bat. This blood sharing scheme is followed frequently in the bat kingdom.
So, after learning all these wonderful facts about vampire bats, would you still continue to despise these creatures as scary, demonic creatures or learn from them some 'humane' behaviour and praise nature for this unique creation?
Note besides: One of the primary reasons of vampire bat related deaths is due to spread of infection from an infected host to another by the vampire bite. This is similar to the spread of diseases by mosquitoes. In this case, the bat itself may also be affected by the infection.
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141218-the-truth-about-vampire-bats
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/060619-vampire-bats_2.html
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/vampire-bat-info.htm
However, here are some facts which may change your opinion about these unique creatures and increase your respect for these animals:
An Intro : Mosquitos and leeches are two invertebrates associated with sucking the blood of other creatures. Among mammals, the Common, White-winged and Hairy-legged vampire bats are three species which feed on the blood of other species.Vampire bats usually feed on cattle and sometimes on wild animals like capybara, tapir or peccaries. From their prey base, can you deduce where these creatures are from? Yes, you got it correct. These creatures are found in South America.
1.ADMIRABLE SENSE OF HEARING - Vampire bats are able to distinguish between two humans by their breathing sounds! This has been proved while training bats in laboratory where bats were able to memorize the breathing patterns of individual humans and recognized them at a later time on the basis of breathing sounds. However, in reality, vampire bats hardly target humans for sucking blood.
2. EXTREME AGILITY- Vampire bats move very fast - at the speed of nearly 1 metre per second! After recognizing a target with the help of its admirable sense of hearing ( the bat often feeds on the same target night after night), the bat moves with extreme agility towards the target.
3. EXCELLENT ANATOMICAL KNOWLEDGE- After approaching the target, the vampire bat locates a suitable blood vessel on the target with the help of its heat sensitive nose cell. It clears the area of hair or feathers by clipping it away and prepares the site for blood sucking. It then inserts its razor sharp incisors into the blood vessel and sucks blood for about an hour. The cocktail of enzymes secreted by the bat (one of them called draculin) prevents the blood from clotting.
4. SCARY CREATURES OR SELFLESS BEINGS? - Compassion is perhaps one of greatest features that define humanity. A vampire bat is small in size and the blood it draws from a creature is equivalent to about 1 tablespoon or 15 ml of blood. This act hardly kills an animal except for rare cases where a large number of vampire bats feed on a weak or dying animal. Most animals do not even notice they have been bitten by a vampire bat.However, what these vampire bats frequently do with the blood they feed on is amazing and inspirational. Vampire bats who have not fed on blood for three consecutive day usually suffers from weakness and dies. This is because blood is rich in proteins but not carbohydrates. Hence, a continuous supply of blood is required to keep these creatures alive.
So what if a bat has not been successful in its search for a target? In the bat kingdom, such a weak bat is taken care of by the other members of the society. Often, other bats not biologically related to the bat, may regurgitate the blood it has fed on to feed the unlucky bat. This blood sharing scheme is followed frequently in the bat kingdom.
So, after learning all these wonderful facts about vampire bats, would you still continue to despise these creatures as scary, demonic creatures or learn from them some 'humane' behaviour and praise nature for this unique creation?
Note besides: One of the primary reasons of vampire bat related deaths is due to spread of infection from an infected host to another by the vampire bite. This is similar to the spread of diseases by mosquitoes. In this case, the bat itself may also be affected by the infection.
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141218-the-truth-about-vampire-bats
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/060619-vampire-bats_2.html
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/vampire-bat-info.htm
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