Bats! Flying Creatures of the Night!

Bats! Flying Creatures of the Night!

Bats. Usually the first thing to enter a persons mind when they hear this word is "Scary, vicious, rats with wings." But bats aren't really like that at all. That image was just created by Hollywood in their attempt to frighten others. Bats are apart of a whole different order than the rodent. There are approximately 1,100 species of bats in the world, which is about twenty percent of all mammal species. The two main species are the megabats and the microbats. Examples of two species (both of which are in the microbat species of bats) are the bumblebee bat, and the common vampire bat. These two incredible creatures of the same species are very different.

The average common vampire bats length from head and body is 2.7-3.5 inches in length (the size of an adults thumb). The wingspan is about eight inches, while the bumblebee bat's wing span is about five inches, and its length is 30-40 mm. The bumblebee has reddish-brown or grey upperparts, and the underside of the bat is always a paler version of the top. For the common vampire bat its furs are brown, gray or brownish-red. The vampire bat is also lighter on the under side. The microbats lack under fur, they only have guard hairs or are naked.

A huge difference between these two bats is their diets. The bumblebee bat eats spiders as well as other small insects that have been gleaned off foliage. The bumblebee bat can also catch insects as its flying. The vampire bat is a totally different story all together. The vampire bat, of course, eats blood; but he doesn't actually suck it. They lab it up like a dog drinking from his water bowl. First the bat pricks an animal with its two large front teeth, often in the foot or leg of a sleeping mammal or bird. An anticoagulant in the vampire's saliva causes the blood to flow without clotting, allowing the bat to lick up its nutritious, protein-filled diet. Vampires take only two tablespoons of blood while the host animal continues to sleep. Also vampires do not suck human's blood. Apparently they don't like it. A vampire bat needs blood at least once every few days to survive. A lot of times, if a vampire can't get blood, it will ask another bat for a blood transfusion. The blood is exchanged mouth-to-mouth in a motion that looks like kissing.

Another difference is their habitat. The common vampire bats are native to the Americans, and range from Mexico to Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. Vampire bats tend to live in almost completely dark places like caves, old wells, hollow trees, and even buildings.