The vampire bat, or Desmodus rotundus, feeds exclusively on mammalian blood. Their primary source is sleeping livestock. They will typically bite an incision and lap up the flowing blood. Their sharp teeth and their light frame allow them to feed for up to a half an hour while perched on their victim without waking it. They need to feed every two days to survive, but bats will regularly regurgitate blood to feed fellow colony members.
To hear audio of a vampire bat feeding: click here. (choose the “audio” button, sure to send a shiver up your spine!)
So much more Batty Halloween Fun after the Jump!
Several enzymes in the saliva of the vampire bat inhibit blood clotting to facilitate their feeding, one of these enzymes, Desmoteplase is being developed as a pharmaceutical to assist in the treatment of ischemic stroke and other clotting diseases.
The running abilities of vampire bats have very recently been documented by Cornell biologists.
They believe that the ability to run quickly, propelled by their forelimbs, is useful for moving between their livestock prey quickly. Check their video of a vampire bat running on a treadmill.
Although they typically prefer sleeping farm animals to humans, in 2004, 13 people died in one month in Brazil from rabies contracted through vampire bat bites. (see photo of a bat bite at the bottom)
The Vampire legend is widely believed to have sprung from the behavior of humans with rabies, particularly hypersensitivity to light, disrupted sleep cycles, biting other humans (thus transmitting the disease to others), and hypersexual behavior.
Make your own Origami Bat:
An actual bat bite
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