When European explores returned from the New world in the 1500’, they told strange tales of blood sucking bats that live in Mexico and South America. We know now however, that vampire bats rarely bother humans, but these stories horrified Europeans. In fact, it wasn’t long before vampire bat stories were combined with the story of Vlad Tepes – a fierce ruler who lived in Eastern Europe at least 100 years earlier.

When this Tepes, who was also known as Vlad the Impaler, faced an invading army that outnumbered his own, he knew that he had to scare off his enemies in order to defeat them. So, like the smart and undoubtedly evil man that he was, he resorted to scare tactics. He hung up the dead bodies of countless enemy soldiers on stakes along the road, and had his soldiers howl like wolves at night. And so do you think his plan worked? Well, heck yes his plan worked! The invaders eventually retreated.

Now, because of all this, Europeans were able to create a new tale. Yes, the Legend of Count Dracula was born. They told tales of how Dracula was a nobleman who slept during the day. They of course, also added in that he drank the blood from peoples necks as they slept. As the story was told again and again, new details were added. Many said that Dracula could transform into a bat, and many also said that he could transform others into vampires. Others still said that these supposed “vampires” could be repelled with garlic, or killed with a stake through the heart. And so the legendary tale of Dracula had become infamous.

This story, undoubtedly caused people of Europe, North America, and South America to fear bats. Despite this, in other parts of the world, many people like bats, For example, in Asia, people believe that bats bring good luck. There are many Chinese designs that depict bats flying in a circle. This design is a symbol of continuous good luck an happiness. As you can see, many people understand that bats don’t really deserve their bad reputation. Many are starting to see all of the ways that bats help humankind.