- Banned
- #1
Bats tend to get off on the wrong wing with us humans. So in honor of National Bat Week, we're clearing up some myths about the world's only flying mammal.
For starters, bats are not nefarious creatures, as they're often portrayed around Halloween, said Rob Mies, executive director of the Michigan-based Organization for Bat Conservation.
They're actually altruistic, Mies said, and have been known to share food with other bats. Vampire bats, for instance, will regurgitate blood for bats who didn't get to feed.
National Geographic caught up with Mies at the Orlando Science Center's Bats: Myths and Mysteries exhibit—which was supported by his organization—to debunk some of the most persistent bat legends.
They vant to suck your blood.
Vampire bats weigh only two ounces, and while these Central and South American natives have been known to bite people, they primarily feed on cattle in a way Mies compares to a mosquito.
"They lick about a spoon's worth of blood, and have an anticlotting enzyme in their saliva that helps keep the blood flowing," he said. (See "Vampire Bats Have Vein Sensors.")
That enzyme is being used to develop anti-blood-clotting medication called ... wait for it ... draculin.
They're "blind as a bat."
This one is particularly untrue: Bigger bats "can see three times better than humans," Mies said.
They're also sensory masters: The large ears of small bats help them echolocate, or use sound waves that bounce off objects like a natural sonar....
Source: 6 Bat Myths Busted Are They Really Blind - eReporter
For starters, bats are not nefarious creatures, as they're often portrayed around Halloween, said Rob Mies, executive director of the Michigan-based Organization for Bat Conservation.
They're actually altruistic, Mies said, and have been known to share food with other bats. Vampire bats, for instance, will regurgitate blood for bats who didn't get to feed.
National Geographic caught up with Mies at the Orlando Science Center's Bats: Myths and Mysteries exhibit—which was supported by his organization—to debunk some of the most persistent bat legends.
They vant to suck your blood.
Vampire bats weigh only two ounces, and while these Central and South American natives have been known to bite people, they primarily feed on cattle in a way Mies compares to a mosquito.
"They lick about a spoon's worth of blood, and have an anticlotting enzyme in their saliva that helps keep the blood flowing," he said. (See "Vampire Bats Have Vein Sensors.")
That enzyme is being used to develop anti-blood-clotting medication called ... wait for it ... draculin.
They're "blind as a bat."
This one is particularly untrue: Bigger bats "can see three times better than humans," Mies said.
They're also sensory masters: The large ears of small bats help them echolocate, or use sound waves that bounce off objects like a natural sonar....
Source: 6 Bat Myths Busted Are They Really Blind - eReporter