Chiroptera Spotlight: Vampire Bat

Oops! Looks like we still have another bat spotlight to do. Honestly, where would I be if I did not cover the famous vampire bat?! Let's give it a look-see.

There are three species of the vampire bat which are all native to the Americas--namely Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina. These bats are called the common vampire bat, the hairy-legged vampire bat, and the white-winged vampire bat. The one thing that draws these three bats into a group is the fact that they all feed on blood. As far as size, I will only say of the common vampire bat that they have a body length of 3.5 inches with a total wingspan of 7 inches.

In addition to the "sound sight" exhibited by most bats, the vampire bats have special thermoreceptors on their noses which help it locate sources of warm blood. This is similar to how snakes hunt and very important if blood is your thing. Where there is blood there is usually warmth.

Guess what! Vampire bats cannot stand light! You will very likely never see them in the daytime. They will find any nook and cranny they can to make their roost in complete darkness. This could be within the hollow of a tree, caves, wells, and even inside the attic of a church. However, if they are found in the daylight, they will not turn into dust. That's just silly.

One roost can be apart of a much broader colony that can amount to hundreds of roosting sites. The roost of a vampire bat is often called a harem. The females outnumber the males. There can be more than one males living there as long as it doesn't get too crowded. The time of year often decides how many males can live there. The females are shared between them, although each male will become pretty possessive abut the ones they pick.

The common vampire bat prefers mammal blood. However, the hairy-legged and white-winged variety go after birds. The common will go after a docile mammal--preferably one that is asleep. They will create a small incision with their teeth and then proceed to lap up the blood that comes out of the sometimes 8mm deep cut. They do not--as some people think--suck out the blood. Additionally, the vampire bat's saliva acts as an anticoagulant which proactively keeps the wound from clotting. A bat weighing 40 grams can consume up to one fluid ounce of blood. After hearing all this, I am sure you understand why they were given that name.

I am a bit staggered when I think about how much fiction has been written about these guys. The first one that comes to mind was Barnabas Collins from the old soap opera Dark Shadows. He was, on occasion, able to change himself into a vampire bat. It never really looked very good--I mean, it was literally a bad on a string--but it became one of the staples of hoaky vampire lore.

There was a vampire bat in the 2001 video game "Conker's Bad Fur Day." His name was Count Batlula and was a direct spoof of Dracula from the movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula." He did not just drink blood in that game, he guzzled it. In fact he guzzled so much blood that he got too heavy to fly anymore and ended up killing himself.

There are a lot more of these bats portrayed in fiction throughout the years. It is not hard to understand why. More often than not, they inspire us to consider the theme of vampirism itself. Imagine a human going about and doing the things this creature does naturally. It is another reason why we should be wary about becoming too animal. Humans should try to be greater than such things. And with that final statement, I bring this spotlight to an end.

Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. "I never drink... vine."

Barnabas Collins from "Dark Shadows."

Count Batula from "Conker's Bad Fur Day."

Count Batula in full vampire bat form.