Dispelling Bat Myths

Are you afraid of bats? Do you believe they are scary, loathsome creatures who only want to suck your blood? Do you believe they are nasty, dirty creatures that carry rabies and other diseases? Read on. You may be surprised.

Do bats fly around at night searching for human prey? Do all bats suck blood?

Contrary to what you may have heard, not all bats suck blood. There are over 1000 species of bats worldwide and 75% of these eat insects, not suck blood. Of the 25% left, many of them eat fruit, pollen, nectar, fish, frogs, and/or other vertebrates. Only 3 species, and these all live in the New World tropics, suck blood.

Bats fly around at night searching for insects and/or fruit. Vampire bats do not attack humans. Living in Mexico, Central America, and South America, they mainly feed on sleeping cattle and horses. They feed for about 30 minutes and don't remove enough blood to harm their host.

Now, they don't seek out humans to feed on, BUT if you are sleeping outside on the ground, they may feed on you. My husband has a friend who was in Panama while training for the Army. He and the other guys in training with him were told to completely cover themselves before going to sleep. If any skin was left exposed, vampire bats would crawl over to them, find the exposed skin and lick on it to numb the area. The bat would then bite them and lick the blood that came out of the wound until it had its fill.

That sounds horrible, but if you are sleeping outside on the ground like a horse or a cow, what do you expect? Mosquitoes will hunt people down anywhere, at least the vampire bat doesn't bother you unless you are sleeping on the ground.

Do they attack humans?

Bats do not attack people. Do you realize how much difference in size there is between a bat and a human? Would you attack something that much bigger than you? Bats are gentle creatures and would so much rather get out of the way of a human than attack it.

There was a bat in my attic one time. When I opened the closet door, it came through the open entrance of the attic and flew around my bedroom like mad. The poor creature wasn't trying to attack me, it was scared! Yes, it did scare me when it came zooming out of my closet, but only until I figured out what it was. I was able to capture the bat by throwing a towel over it, then I took the shaking mammal outside and set it free.

Are bats blind?

Bats, even though they hunt using echolocation, are anything but blind. Some bats have very good eyesight while others have eyesight that is not so great. I guess you could say that is one thing they have in common with humans.

Will bats get tangled in your hair?

I want you to really think about something. Have you ever seen a bat hunt at night? These nocturnal hunters are able to catch the tiniest of insects when it is completely dark outside while not flying into wires, branches or anything else that happens to be in its pathway. If a bat can avoid such objects in the dark, why do you think that it could not avoid a human head?

Are bats loathsome rodents who are of no value to humans? Aren't they just mice with wings?

If you are a fortunate person who is never bothered by mosquitoes, then this fact may not endear the bat to you, but a bat can consume over 600 mosquitoes in an hour. Mosquitoes can carry malaria, dengue, and yellow fever. Bats will eat them for dinner and protect us from these horrible diseases.

That is not the only valuable thing that bats do. They also pollinate certain plants, especially nocturnal plants. If bats weren't around to pollinate these nocturnal plants, many of them would disappear. If you are a chocolate lover, then you should love bats. They are the main pollinator of the cacao plant. This plant would possibly cease to exist or become quite rare without the aid of the bat.

Bats are not mice with wings. They are, though, the only mammal with the ability to fly. Their wings have the same bone structure as the human hand. The name of the order they belong to is Chiroptera. It means hand-winged.

Do all bats have rabies? Aren't they dirty, nasty creatures?

No, all bats do not have rabies. Just like any other animal, they do have the capability to carry it if infected. Remember that raccoons, dogs, cats, skunks, and any other animal also has this capability. And bats who have rabies progressively become paralyzed and unable to fly.

Bats are not dirty, nasty creatures. They are actually quite clean mammals and are known to groom and clean themselves just about as often as housecats.

If a bat encounters a human, will this bat attach itself to the human's face and refuse to let go until this person plays a Dara Buka drum?

This is an Egyptian legend, so you may not have heard it before. According to the legend, if a person encounters a bat, this bat will then attach itself to the human's face. The bat will not let go until this person plays a Dara Buka drum. I have no clue how this legend began, I only know that there are not accounts of it ever happening.

For a writing exercise, I suggest you take one or more of the above myths about bats. Research a bit more deeply if you need, then write a story about how a person is made to see that a certain myth about bats is simply not true.

You could also take one of the myths, pretend that it is true, and write a spooky tale around it.

However you decide to use this information, I hope you enjoyed learning about the myths that surround these flying mammals of the night.