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Dear Jerry:
By feeding on nothing but blood and targeting their prey late at night, vampire bats sure seem like
creatures from a horror movie. But in real life, they're probably a lot more afraid of you than you
are of them. For one thing, these shy creatures, which live in the southern U.S. and the forests of
Central and South America, rarely attack people. And, to the horses, cattle and other livestock
they usually feed on, they're more like pesky mosquitoes than vicious monsters.
A vampire bat bites by using its sharp incisor teeth to make a shallow cut in its victim's
skin. It then laps up the seeping blood as substances in its saliva prevent its liquid meal from
clotting. The bite is painless, though, and the loss of blood is small (about 1 cubic cm/0.06 cubic
in). In short, vampire bats aren't as scary or harmful as their name would make you believe. In
fact, they're intelligent creatures and have even been known to adopt orphans and help other bats
in need. So please, ditch those visions of "Dracula" the next time you find yourself face-to-face
with one at a zoo!
Signed,
Wendell
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