Vampire bats are very social creatures, as are many other bat species. Vampire bats will gather together in roosts. The communal roost offers them a place to meet. Other factors also play into this, as roost sites are usually scarce, and so a good bat cave may attract many bats.

These roosts form a structured society which provides a network of social support. Like many other bats, the vampire bat lives a long life. Many survive for up to 20 years in the wild. Evidence shows that these bats will remain with their same roosting group for many years, perhaps even all of their life. The colonies will usually include on male and several females along with the young.

When the bats return from the roost, they will often groom each other. Oftentimes, a bat that has failed to obtain food will beg for food, and the other bat will regurgitate the blood into the mouth of the other. Female vampire bats are particularly sociable as they will both share meals and care for the young of others. This behavior is almost unknown between unrelated individuals of any other type of animal!
As is highly prevalent, vampire bats are highly social creatures. They also have quite the heart! They are not cold and evil beings, but instead are intelligent and sociable bats!

Blind as a bat is an expression people use to describe those who cannot see very well. Now, mind you, bats actually see quite well. Despite this, bats are nocturnal animals and so they hunt when it is dark out. Therefore, they cannot see very well when they are hunting. So they use another form of “seeing” called echolocation. Although, not all bats do this; most megabats do not echolocate.

Most bats, including the vampire bat, begin feeding at dusk. They use their eyes until the light fades away and seeing becomes difficult. Then they use another way of “seeing”, which involves sounds and echoes. In the dark, these bats send about 20 to 30 squeaks or clicks per second. The sounds are so high pitched that we cannot hear them. They have to be high pitched, because the higher the pitch, the smaller the object that can be detected. Each species has its own way of sending out these sounds, through either the nose or the mouth. In the case of the vampire bat, it is through the nose.

The sound waves spread out in a small arc in front of the bat’s face. These sound waves or pulses are also called ultrasound. When the sound waves strike an object they echo, or bounce back. The sound waves are then picked up by the bats ears. Ever wonder why bats have such large ears? Well, that is why. The echoes tell the bat where things are as well as what they are. Now, Vampire bats are also unique among other bats because they are known as leaf nose bats.

Leaf nose bats have highly developed folds of skin called nose-leafs around their nose. Scientists think that these nose leafs help the bat to direct the echolocation calls. Work with these bats has found that the nose-leaf is important in the transmission of echolocation calls. Although bats use echolocation while hunting, it is also used so that they may fly at night without hitting branches or other objects.

Rabies

Rabies: The fear of all fears associated with bats is Rabies.This is a disease caused by the bullet shaped Rhabdovirus, which affects the nervous system. This is a disease common to mammals and there are few individuals that recover after contacting the disease. This is a disease that is fatal to both humans and mammals.

Animals that have contracted the disease become sicker and sicker as time passes on. They usually die within two or three days after symptoms appear. Some animals with rabies, as you probably already know, go mad. They attack all that is in their path, and are very vicious. Some on the other hand, suffer from a progressing paralysis which usually begins from the hind legs, and then moves forward into the body. Some animals also go through both stages, yet whatever happens, the end result is the same.

In either occurrence, the throat muscles become so paralyzed that the animal cannot swallow its own saliva. This causes that infamous “ foaming at the mouth”, and will oftentimes cause an increased amount of thirst called “hydrophobia”. Now, aside from the characteristics of rabies, it should be noted that looks can be deceiving. If you are bitten by a bat at any time, you should seek immediate medical attention. Now, vampire bats will bite mammals and humans on a normal basis. As they feed on blood, they will nevertheless bite their prey. Therefore, they are also a prime spreader of the disease. Many cattle are inflicted with the disease each year.

With these facts in mind, it is clear that rabies is a frightening disease. Everyone should avoid aggressive animals, and more importantly people without appropriate training should not handle sick, dying, or dead animals.

Some Do’s and Dont’s about bats

1. Bats of all sizes will attack people if they feel threatened.
2. If you must handle a bat, minimize the chances of it biting you. By wrapping the bat in a thick towel, or wearing thick gloves, you will make it virtually impossible for the bat to bite you.
3. Do not keep bats as pets.
4. If you are bitten by a bat, see a physician immediately. If the bat is available, it can be tested for rabies.
5. If you are working in an area with bat droppings, us a respirator or mask that will remove particles 2 microns or larger in diameter.
6. Avoid disturbing bats in their roosts, bats that are hibernating or roosting are very sensitive, disturbing them can lead to their death.
7. if you must handle bats, obtain pre exposure rabies vaccines.

For most of the twentieth century, bats steadily declined in numbers across the United States. Their disappearance was related to the fact that bat are more likely to suffer large population loses than any other animals. One of the major factors in the bats decline has been their habit of roosting together in large numbers. Unlike other small mammals, some bats live together in colonies that may number in the millions. This behavior has resulted in thousands of bats dying from several natural disasters such as flooding, or from human disturbances.

Another factor in the disappearance of bats is their need to sleep during the day. Because the bats sleep in caves and buildings where they can be easily found, they are at greater risk for attack than other animals. Sleeping bats are easy prey for animal predators or people with the intent of harming them. Peoples fear of bats, based on the belief that bats infect humans with deadly diseases, such as rabies, led people to kill bats. Many communities, believing they are ridding themselves of dangerous animals, organize campaigns to destroy any bats found nearby.

Animals such as snakes, owls, hawks, skunks, and raccoons occasionally eat bats. But man bears the responsibility for bats disappearing at a rate that threatens them with extinction. Vandalism of bat roosting sites, and killing bats for sport, was considered acceptable for much of the twentieth century. Even when people have no intention of harming bats, they can still do harm. People exploring a cave during a certain species hibernation (vampire bats do not hibernate), or when females are having their young, has resulted in the death of many bats.

Bats are mammals. The word “mammal” comes from the Greek word mammae, meaning breasts. Like most mammals, bats give birth to their young. The young will feed on milk from their mothers. Bats have fur on their heads, backs, and bellies. This keeps them warm on cool nights, and in cool bat roosts. The babies will also hold onto their mother by grasping onto their fur.

Bats are gentle and shy creatures. They have lightweight bones and rubbery wings. They use their sharp teeth to cut and bite through to get food. All bats have feet with strong, grasping hooked claws. These claws help the bats to hang upside-down. Each species of bat has its own look, size, shape, and color. Cave dwellers are usually darkly colored, such as brown or gray. Fruit eaters and bats that live in trees may be light in color, such as red, silver-tipped, or yellow. The colors help them to look more like the leaves.

Each species also has its own distinct look. Some bats have heads that look like those of other mammals. Flying foxes have heads that look like foxes heads. Some bats have nice looking faces with shy and humanlike expressions. Many bats are so strange looking that they frighten people. Some bats have large horn shaped or pointed ears, large lumpy noses, and grooved, wrinkled mouths. The wrinkle faced bat may be the strangest bat in the world.

Each species of bat also has its own particular diet. Many eat insects, and some fed on fruit or pollen. Some eat fish, some eat meat such as birds and lizards, and as we all know, the vampire bat feeds on blood.