HABITS
Vampire bats are active only during the darkest periods of the night. It is the
time when they are most likely to avoid being caught by such nocturnal
predators as owls. Also, the domestic animals on which the bats feed are often
sleeping, and so are easier to approach undetected.
During the day, vampire bats roost in colonies, hanging upside down in caves
and hollow trees. They will sometimes move from one daytime roost to another
which is closer to their prey. This kind of activity indicates that vampire
bats learn from experience where their prey can be found.
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BREEDING
The vampire bat's ability to reproduce is limited by its need to remain
light enough to fly. It gives birth to a single offspring after a gestation
period of 6-8 months. Vampire bats mate year-round. Mating takes place
while roosting upside down in the security of a cave. A single young is
then born some 6-8 months later.
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Born blind, the young bat is carried by its mother for the first few days
of its life, Its eyes open after a week, and it takes its first flight
when it is 3 weeks old. It is sexually mature at 9 months and breeds at
any time of the year.
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FOOD & HUNTING
The vampire bat feeds on the blood of animals. Cows, pigs, and horses are
its favorite hosts. The bat will usually choose the most docile or isolated
animal in the herd on which to feed. Using its chisel like incisor teeth,
the bat makes a small cut in the animal's skin. It usually chooses a fleshy
area, like the shoulder or neck, where the blood vessels are closer to the
skin's surface. The bat then drinks the blood that flows from the wound.
Chemicals in the bat's saliva keep the blood flowing for the 2-3 minutes that
the bat feeds. Often two or three bats will feed from the same wound. In
most instances, the host animal suffers no ill effects from the loss of
blood, although if too many bats feed on the same animal, it may be
severely weakened.
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VAMPIRE BAT & MAN
The vampire bat can transmit rabies to livestock and man. To control the
vampire bats, cattle have been injected with anticoagulants, substances
which cause internal bleeding in the feeding bats. Anticoagulants have
also been smeared on the bats themselves. When they return to their
roost site, other bats in the colony groom them and ingest the fatal drug.
KEY FACTS
Size
Length: Body, 2 3/4 in.
Wingspan: 8 in.
Weight: 1 oz.
Breeding
Sexual maturity: 9 months
Mating Season: All year
Gestation: 6-8 months
No. of young: 1.
Lifestyle
Habit: Nocturnal. Lives in colonies of
from 6-2,000, but which usually
number 100.
Diet: Blood of domestic animals,
particularly cows, pigs, horses.
Lifespan: 9 years in wild; nearly 20
years in captivity.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Vampire bats once preyed on wild animals, but now feed mainly on domestic
animals.
- Vampire bats have been known to feed on humans in their sleep.
- In a year, a colony of 100 vampire bats consume a quantity of blood
equivalent to the amount in 25 cows.
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