The legendary 'vampire' and the truth you certainly don't know

It is not natural that vampires are always associated with the image of a bloodthirsty bats.

In the story of the legendary Count Dracula there is always a piece of medicine that turns into a bat, flies to the bed of beautiful girls sleeping and sucking on their blood.

For that reason, the rumored folk have a bat named "vampire" , ugly shape, blind eyes, bloodthirsty and loyal servants of demons.

There is a species of bat named vampire in the world.

Indeed, there is a species of bat named vampire in the world. However, we all misunderstood. They are nothing to be afraid of, even their life behavior may make you feel somewhat "lovely" !

Vampire bats are also known as "demon bats" as a "blood-eating" animal , because their source of nutrition is just the blood of vertebrates.

Ordinary bat species take mammal food: mostly domesticated species such as cattle or horses. Sometimes, they also suck blood from wild animals like guinea pigs, wild boars, and sometimes humans.

Common demon bat species take food from mammals.

Because there is such a strange diet, they are often turned into a cruel creature by a mythical creature that harms the nature. But actually, sucking blood is just a survival instinct.

"Technique" unique blood

Blood contains a high protein content but lacks starch, so they have to eat a lot and eat regularly. In response to food shortages, their "blood-drinking" approach has evolved dramatically.

Compared to other bats, demon bats can sense low-frequency sounds much more acutely, helping them better locate prey. A common demon bat can detect humans by breathing.

Actually, sucking blood is just a survival instinct.

Once the prey is located, the demon bat will come from the ground, using its front limbs and wings to approach the prey at an amazing speed. Thanks to the heat-sensing cells on the nose, the bat will find the proper vascular location on the host's body.

Next, they will clean the area by clearing the coat, licking the skin with the tongue, and then inserting razor-sharp fangs into the bloodstream. Their saliva contains a complex protein called "draculin" , which prevents blood from clotting.

The demon bat will carefully suck the victim's blood within . nearly 1 hour without the host being aware. Even a demon bat can be twice as heavy after it is full of blood, because their stomachs have extremely high elasticity.

The demon bat will carefully suck the victim's blood within . nearly 1 hour without the host being aware.

"They swell up like a mosquito" - quoted Gerald Wikinson from the University of Maryland. It seems that the heavy body will make it difficult for the bat to fly, but no, they can still reach speeds of 2m / s after a full meal.

Practicing your friends and listening to everyone is admiring

Although there are such great feeding abilities, demon bats often fall into hunger. Wikinson estimates that nearly one-tenth of adults and one third of adults are flying back to the nest with an empty stomach before dawn. If this condition lasts for 3 consecutive nights, they will lose about a quarter of their body weight and will die.

The thing is, demon bats won't let their fellow humans die from hunger, guys. Conversely, they share the amount of blood collected for each other.Every night, eating bats will "vomit" blood clots to make food for their hungry friends.

The mother bats feed her baby.

In the late 1970s and early 80s of the last century, Wilkinson and his assistants spent months in the willow forest in Costa Rica, watching how demon bats share food with each other.

In some cases, he saw that the mother gave the bat to the baby to eat, but usually, the child gave blood and the child received blood without blood.

They also spend a lot of time with people, and even develop a relationship just by "brushing" each other. According to Wilkinson: "Friends are another phrase to describe this relationship."

Perhaps they are not as scary as we imagined.

There is no indication that they are forced to "donate blood". "To say the opposite is true. They volunteer to give away their food," Wilkinson said. This behavior represents a strong community feeling.