Bats are Beautiful: Debunking 5 Myths About Bats

Maeve Kiley  

A happy little bat reading about bat myths.

The Midnight Fly 

Imagine: you are no longer human. You are a tiny, winged critter, scattering across the night sky with your colony. You are small, but you are many. You have been born into this colony, but soon, you will spread your wings, leave your mother, and join another colony. However, you will not experience that for a few more weeks.

In the meantime, you enjoy the warmth of your mother’s furry chest and snuggling with fellow pups in the maternal colony. Dozens of mother bats gather with their offspring for safety, security, and support. Most days are spent with your cousins, where you munch on mosquitoes and snuggle in the roost.

But tonight, you are free! The night sky is your playground, and you are ready to see what the world offers! You cling to your mother’s chest as she whizzes through the air, her mouth skillfully snatching bloodsucking mosquitos and emitting a high-pitched shriek. Her shouts and chitters amaze you, for they are the sounds that have guided your kind for generations. Echolocation guides your mother, and one day, it shall guide you.

But as you swoop into a residential neighborhood, you hear sounds you do not recognize. Strangely shaped shadows point fingers at you, and flashlights click on and off as strange, deep voices shout:

“Ew! It’s a bat! So ugly!” 

“Gross! Those things are nothing but disease!” 

“Ugh, it’s a flying rat!” 

“AH! It’s Dracula!” 

You do not know these slanderous words, for you are a Southeastern Myotis pup. Local to Florida, your home is not what it used to be. Now, it is paved and plastered, but it is your only home. You focus on the enormous adventure that awaits you—a life increasingly challenged by human invention and machinery. You were born a bat, and you are hated for it. Unbeknownst to humans, their reasoning for their hatred is shrouded in lies and myths.

Myth #1: Bats are Evil 

Famous horror books like Bram Stoker’s Dracula and other vampire stories may be incredible works of fiction. However, they have had the unfortunate side effect of causing a significant stigma against bats. This result was likely not the author’s intention, but humans began seeing bats with great fear somewhere along the way.  

It was not always this way. Many cultures revered bats. In ancient China, bats were seen as good luck. According to the Book of Documents, the symbol of five bats representing five blessings was common because the Chinese word for ‘bat’ is similar to the Chinese word for ‘blessing’ or ‘fortune.’  

 In Ancient Greece, bats were seen as symbols of the goddess Persephone. As queens of the underworld, bats received the same reverence as their goddess.

The ancient Mayans also saw bats as adjacent to the underworld, with a mighty bat god named Camazotz (translated to ‘death bat’ in the K’iche’ language). His most famous story was his encounter with the Hero Twins, where he served as a frightening antagonist. However, he was not explicitly ‘evil’ but more of a fearsome, powerful god that was not to be messed with.

Ancient Egypt had a different approach, with bats considered healing symbols that cured the sick. Some African cultures viewed bats as guardians who led souls due to their ability to navigate the darkness. 

Scientifically speaking, bats are neither evil nor good. They are simply another part of the complex structure that makes up nature. Much like any other part of this web, there would be major repercussions if bats were to go away. 

Myth #2: Bats are Dangerous and will Suck your Blood 

Many believe all bats are bloodsuckers, a leftover belief from vampire stories. In truth, of the 1,300 known bat species, only three are ‘bloodsuckers.’  

Vampire bats are members of the subfamily Desmodontinae in Central and South America. The three types of vampire bats are the common vampire bat, the hairy-legged vampire bat, and the white-winged vampire bat. They are leaf-nosed bats whose primary source of nutrients is animal blood. Contrary to popular belief, they are not known to consume the blood of humans, and their primary target for cuisine is livestock.

Interestingly, vampire bats do not ‘suck’ blood as much as they lap it. Instead of sucking, they use their teeth to cut the skin of the animal open, creating a small puddle of blood to lap up. A special protein in the saliva of vampire bats prevents the blood from clotting. Their prey is usually sleeping when this procedure occurs.

Vampire bats are also sanguivorous, meaning they do not kill their prey when they consume blood from it.

Myth #3: Bats are Blind 

Although it goes against the common idiom, bats are not blind.

Bats are nocturnal creatures, and their eyes have evolved for low-light environments. During the twilight hours, bats have excellent vision, and some species, such as the Pallas’s Long-Tongued Bat, can perceive ultraviolet light. When bats are in high-light conditions, they cannot see as well.

However, bats were built with a fail-safe. They use echolocation, an evolutionary communication method involving sounds and echo interpretation. They use echolocation to find precious food in the darkness and communicate with other bats.

Myth #4: Bats are Flying Rats 

Contrary to the frequent insult thrown at bats, they are not part of the Muridae family, nor are they part of the Sciuridae (squirrels), Castoridae (beavers), or Cricetidae (New World rats) families.

Bats belong to the order of Chiroptera, the second-largest mammal order, with over 1,400 species. Their Greek name means “hand-wing,” which references the thin membrane stretched between their fingers and thumbs, which makes their unique, powerful wings. 

There are two suborders in the Chiroptera order. Megachiroptera is the fruit bat suborder, and the Microchiroptera are all other types of bats, including insect-eating bats, nectar-eating bats, vampire bats, and others.

None of these orders or suborders relates to bats besides the general similarity between mammals. 

The consensus on why bats are called ‘flying rats’ is that they have tiny, furry bodies. However, bats exhibit incredible genetic diversity, with some species being as small as a few inches in length while others can reach a size of a couple of feet.

Myth #5: Bats are Pests 

Bats are the farthest thing from pests. They are the pest control of the natural world.

Insect-eating bats play crucial roles in the natural world. They consume millions of mosquitoes, moths, and agricultural pests. A single bat consumes its entire body weight in mosquitoes per night, averaging around 1,000 mosquitoes an hour.

Bat droppings (known as ‘guano’) are incredibly beneficial for soil. They have served as a natural fertilizer for centuries, and their content is rich in nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. These nutrients act as a soil builder and compost activator, creating nutritious soil.

Bats are essential to the natural world and serve as excellent predators and pest control agents. According to the USDA, bat pest control saves over $3.7 billion per year.

Want to Learn More About Bats? 

Chipco Preserve has created a new, free course about bats. It is educational, entertaining, and incredibly enlightening. Each section can be completed in minutes. Those who finish the course receive a digital badge and certificate!

Explore the world of bats and see how the many myths and stigmas surrounding them are exaggerated and falsified.

Bats are beautiful. They are not pests or evil or nasty. They are instrumental to maintaining the health and beauty of the environment.

References 

Benjamin, Jocelyn. USDA Public Affairs Specialist. (n.d.). Celebrating the special powers of bats. Home. https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/blog/celebrating-special-powers-bats#:~:text=Nearly%2070%20percent%20of%20bat,crop%20damage%20and%20pesticide%20costs.  

Bats, facts and photos. Animals. (n.d.). https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/bats  

Evans, Z. T. (2019, October 31). Bat myths and folktales from around the world. FolkloreThursday. https://folklorethursday.com/folktales/bats-in-mythology-and-folklore-around-the-world/  

Harbster, J. (2012, October 31). Creatures of the night: Inside adams. The Library of Congress. https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2012/10/creatures-of-the-night/  

Harper, R. (2024, June 14). Blind as a bat? no such thing. Bat Conservation International. https://www.batcon.org/blind-as-a-bat-no-such-thing/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=702493867&gbraid=0AAAAADPF2iNGxa4c8vhQ18XPDNxyXoaAi&gclid=Cj0KCQjwss3DBhC3ARIsALdgYxNm7Rw1JKpzQYygI4FuVUPYp2htdUATfPXSJNMpIaeT_jZrWUsC9b4aAnnqEALw_wcB  

National Geographic Kids. (2021, February 10). Bat myths busted!. Nature. https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/nature/article/bat-myths-busted  

U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). Myth Busters. National Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bats/myth-busters.htm