Vampire Bats ~The Blood Suckers

The only flying mammals that roost upside-down are bats. Their wings are formed of abnormally long fingers that are stretched with patagium, a type of membrane-like skin. Blood-sucking or sanguivorous bats that fly only eat the blood of vertebrates are known as vampire bats. The common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), the hairy-legged vampire bat (Diphylla ecaudata), and the white-winged vampire bat are three of the vampire bat species that can be found throughout Central and South America (Diaemus youngi).

Unlike other bats, vampire bats have forelimbs and hindlimbs that they may use to walk, jump, and even sprint. According to a recent study, ordinary vampire bats can run up to 72 meters per minute.

Contrary to popular belief, vampire bats are small creatures, approximately the size of a human thumb, who emerge from their roosts at night to feed on the blood of sleeping animals like cattle and horses, which are their usual prey.

Common vampire bats are tailless, medium-sized mammals that can gain up to twice as much weight on a single feeding. They are just 50 grammes long and 7-9 cm wide. They have powerful forelimbs and robust rear legs, which aid them in running and taking off after feeding.

Human Vampire Myth

The first "human vampire," popularly known as Dracula, was the brutally cruel Romanian General Prince Vlad III the Impaler (1431–1476). (son of dragon). In his novel Dracula, written in 1897, Bram Stoker blended the horror stories about Vlad the Impaler with the finding of vampire bats in South America to create the primary character, Count Dracula, a century-old bloodthirsty vampire. Stoker made the decision to incorporate the bloodsucking animal in his work after reading newspaper articles on vampire bats. Although vampire bats seldom bite people, once they have consumed human blood, they are known to return the next night to consume more.

On St. George's Day, April 23, and on the eve of St. Andrew, November 29, when people are known to have close experiences with them, there are accounts of sightings of the vampires who are thought to hang at crossroads in Transylvania, the setting of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Some argue that the Dracula illusion occurs because the region is surrounded by one of the strongest magnetic fields on Earth and its residents are susceptible to extrasensory perception.

Species Similar To Vampire Bats

An insectivorous bat called the lesser false vampire bat (Megaderma spasma) can be found throughout Southeast Asia, from Indonesia to the Philippines and India. Its body is 10 cm long and its wingspan is 30 cm.

Asia is the natural habitat of the larger fake vampire bat (Megaderma lyra). It is sometimes referred to as the Indian fake vampire bat and feeds on insects, small birds, reptiles, fish, and other animals besides bats.

An extinct species of vampire bats called Desmodus draculae lived in South America during the Pleistocene. Because of its enormous size, the species has also been referred to as the huge vampire bat.

The spectral bat, sometimes known as the false vampire bat, is the sole species in the genus Vampy rum (Vampy rum spectrum). The largest carnivorous bat in the world and the largest native bat to the Americas are both members of this species. This bat has wings that may spread up to 100 cm.

Method Of Blood Feed

Using infrared sensors, vampire bats choose a suitable host, which directs them to their ground prey. They land close to their prey and move discreetly until they find an appropriate place to suck blood. Heat sensors on the nose of vampire bats enable them to find warm blood nearby the victim's skin. The bats' razor-sharp teeth allow them to pierce the skin without feeling any pain in order to draw blood. Draculin, a plasminogen activator found in vampire bat saliva, prevents the blood from their prey's wounds from clotting, either as it flows from the wound or in the bat's stomach.

Contrary to common perception, vampire bats do not ingest blood; instead, they slurp it up with their tongue's grooves as it drains from the incision. The host is not in pain because the saliva of the vampire bat contains chemicals that numb the area of skin around the bite.

Additionally, birds perched on trees have their blood sucked by white-winged vampire bats. The bat approaches the bird by crawling on the branch's underside, staying out of the bird's line of sight. Then, it cuts a gash on the bird's hind toe to scavenge blood. A vampire bat may consume 20 to 30 minutes' worth of its own body weight in blood during a feeding session.

Social Behavior And Posture Of Bats 

Since vampires roost in colonies in caves or tree holes, it is known that they exchange meals with one another. Blood from the mother bat's stomach is regurgitated for her young to consume. Some bats may request other bats to regurgitate some blood for them if they are hungry one day. Such favor's are always returned in order to maintain the social structure and the colony's existence. One breeding male, roughly 20 females, and their offspring make up a vampire bat colony in most cases. A vampire bat female practically never gives birth to more than one child during a breeding season.

Unusual Resting Posture Of Bats

 Because their legs are not strong enough to sustain their body weight in an upright position, bats rest by hanging from tree branches or cliffs. The tendons and muscles attached to the bats' digits are pulled down when they relax, causing the digits to clench tightly around the branch. The bat cannot fall because the talon joints are locked in that posture. The effectiveness of this technique allows a bat to hang in the roost even after it passes away. 

Why do bats hang from their roosts? As opposed to jumping like birds, the bat merely falls down in the air to take off in the hanging stance. In contrast to birds, bats lack the stronger hind limbs that are linked to the patagium of the wings, which prevents them from leaping into the air from the ground or a branch to take flight. Additionally, they lack the strength in their wings to generate enough lift to take off from the ground up. They are unable to run in order to develop the requisite lift power because of their frail hind limbs. Instead, they ascend to a higher point using the claws of their forelimbs before descending to take flight.

Bats may efficiently hide among foliage by perching in a hanging position, and they can flee from predators by taking off swiftly. They continue to hang in close proximity to the fruits that the fruit-eating bats eat while doing so. However, vampire bats can walk on the ground and can leap and jump using both fore and rear limbs, which is an adaptation for blood sucking.

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