A Post Halloween Story about the Myths and Truths around Bats
Myths:
- Bats are big spreaders of rabies
Fruit Bat
- Bats are blind
- Bats are vampires
Facts:
- Only 1 in 100 bats have rabies which is fewer than raccoons, foxes and skunks.
- Most bats see quite well, though they do use echolocation to get around at night
- Only 3 of 1,100 species are vampire bats and they all live in Central and South America and do most of their bloodsucking on livestock
- Bats eats mosquitoes as well as insects that are threats to agriculture, wild lands and forests
- Bats pollinate and/or do seed dispersal for four hundred fifty cash crops around the world
To read more go the primary source for this posting in the S. F. Chronicle story Dispelling flights of fancy about bats
Related Articles
- 7 Surprising Facts About Bats (thedailygreen.com)
Natural History Wanderings 
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