Four Misconceived Myths About Bats
If myths about bats are driving you, well, batty, we can help you with that.
Few mammals have acquired quite as bad a reputation as our friends the Chiroptera. Indeed, the number of myths about bats is appalling. Instead of being proud of them, since they're the only naturally flying mammals, we spread all kinds of rumors that prejudice us against these fascinating little fellows.
Yes, bats can be kind of scary, but that's no reason to hate them. They're pretty useful critters. For example, if it weren't for bats, mosquitoes and other annoying bugs would overwhelm us. Keep that in mind as you're learning the facts about these four batty myths.
Myth 1: All bats are rabid
According to the University of Florida, this myth about bats is for the birds. Like any mammal, bats can acquire and transmit rabies, but rabid bats are rare indeed. Percentage estimates of rabid bats hovers at about one-half of one percent -- or about one bat per two hundred. That's rare in anyone's book.
That's not to say that you should go out and play in the local bat cave. Like all wild animals, bats can be dangerous. But considering that only about one person a year gets rabies from a bat, it's not something to worry too much about. More people are killed by lightning, bee stings, or power mowers in the average year.
Myth 2: Bats are blind
Nope, though this myth about bats does provide one of our more colorful sayings about visually-impaired people. Bats can't see color, but they can see well enough for their needs. In fact, their night vision is better than ours. However, their ears are so sensitive that they navigate better using sonar.
Myth 3: Bats will suck your blood
A few species do dine on blood, but even the tiny Central and South American namesakes of the classic vampire myth don't actually suck blood; they lap it up. Of course, first they have to nip you first with their razor-sharp teeth (ouch), and there's an anticoagulant in their saliva that keeps the blood flowing (ugh).
The good news is that vampire bats actually drink very little, and prefer animals to people most of the time. The best news is that there are only three species of vampire bats; the other 1,100+ species in the bat family favor bugs and fruits for dinner. See how inaccurate this myth about bats really is?
Myth 4: Bats are just rats with wings
Now, that's just plain mean. And anyway, it's more accurate to say that humans are naked apes than it is to say that bats are winged rats. Bats aren't rodents at all, no matter what they look like. In fact, there's evidence that they're more closely related to primates -- the mammal line that humans belong to.
You read that right, folks: primates. Seems the poet Theodore Roethke was onto something when he closed his poem "The Bat" with "For something is amiss or out of place/When mice with wings can wear a human face." As is so often the case, this myth among many myths about bats is less odd than the truth!
