A Short History of the World in 50 Animals by Dr Jacob F. Field

Author:Dr Jacob F. Field
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Michael O’Mara Books Limited

The link between feasting on blood and bats is not wholly fallacious. There was some element of truth to it: three species of bat are indeed sanguivorous (blood-sucking). Vampire bats, named after the figure in folklore, are all native to Latin America. They feed on sleeping mammals, biting them using their sharp incisor teeth; their saliva includes a strong anticoagulant that stops the blood from clotting, allowing them to lap it up. As the vampire bat’s bite is shallow, its prey remains asleep throughout the feeding, which takes up to thirty minutes. They seldom feed on humans but their bites provide egg-laying sites for parasites and they sometimes spread diseases like rabies.

In Mesoamerica, the region extending from central Mexico to northern Costa Rica, bats are frequently tied to death, sacrifice and destruction. This may reflect the direct experience of these peoples living with vampire bats and incidents of them feeding on humans. In Mesoamerican art, bats are often depicted with human bones and sometimes have snouts shaped like sacrificial knives. In the mythology of the Maya, an ancient Mesoamerican civilization that emerged in modern-day Guatemala, northern Belize and southern Mexico, one of their gods is called Camazotz (‘death bat’) who is a cave-dwelling creature that drinks human blood. Camazotz is also the name of monstrous bats that feature in the Popul Vuh, a collection of epic myths of the Quiché, who are one of the Maya peoples. Two of the main characters are Hunahpu and Xbalanque, the ‘Hero Twins’ who travel to Xibalba (the Maya underworld) to fight its gods. On their journey they are subjected to a number of trials, including spending a night in the House of Bats. To escape being attacked by Camazotz, the twins shrink themselves into their blowguns but disaster strikes when Hunahpu sticks his head out and is decapitated. Fortunately, his brother Xbalanque fashions a new head out of a squash and together they ultimately defeat the lords of the underworld. Eventually, Hunahpu and Xbalanque become the moon and sun, respectively, and their story represents the triumph of light over dark. Even so, Camazotz remained feared, and the Maya would plant their corn at the time of year when he descended into Xibalba, so he would not interfere.

Bats are not always viewed negatively. The ancient Egyptians believed they would ward away ailments such as poor eyesight, toothache, fever and even baldness, and in Poland they are a symbol of luck. But it is in China that bats have the most positive associations; they are linked to happiness and good fortune, while five of them together symbolizes the wufu, the ‘five blessings’ of virtue, long life, wealth, health and a natural death. This favourable view of bats echoes the many benefits they have for humans. As the vast majority of bats are insect eaters, they play a vital role in controlling their numbers, particularly for species like the mosquito. In addition, the bats who eat pollen and nectar are essential to the propagation of numerous species of plant, including the banana and the agave (the source of tequila).

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