Vampire bats are a notorious breed; they are known for many things, especially in cult fiction and relation to supernatural creatures, did you know, however, that they are similar to humans when it comes to sharing bonds? Only different.
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Vampire Bats "French Kiss" With Blood
A new study that is now published in Current Biology was aimed to explore how the species developed relationships. This study has seen that adult vampire bats form bonds by other adult vampire bats by starting by grooming each other, then something else happens. They start "mouth-licking" before swapping food. Scientists call it the process of regurgtation.
Now, as you may or may not know, vampire bats only food is, you guessed it, blood. So when they start "mouth-licking," the only reason for this is so that they can lick off food from the bat who was able to get blood for that night.
So, in essence, "mouth-licking" from other vampire bats can be a way of saving their own lives or giving life to others of their kind by the one who delivers food.
What are the Eating Habits of the Vampire Bats?
Vampire bats are a peculiar bunch. It would be either they go hunt at night and score big, or starve for the entire duration. They need to intake blood to survive and living without it for about three days; they would die.
The bats hunt at night and look for cattle and other animals, and sometimes humans as well. They make a small incision near an artery by using their teeth and start licking the blood sa it flows down the victim.
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Similarities and Differences of Other Animals to Vampire Bats
Despite the obvious reason that vampire bats food is purely just blood, this act of "french kissing" or regurgitation can be similar to some birds feeding their young. For the vampire bats, however, they do this for the adults as well. Birds tend to stop feeding their young when they can fend for themselves already. Not vampire bats, they do this for their whole lives, even reaching the adult stage.
How does Vampire Bats Start to Bond?
Professor Gerald Carter, the author of the study and behavioral ecologist at Ohio State University, said, "We go from bats starting as strangers from different colonies to groupmates that act to save each other's life,"
He also added that "They have this 'boom and bust' foraging experience, so they either hit it big and get a large blood meal or they're starved for that night."
Bats would still groom each other regardless if their fur is already clean, which his study suggests that it is not just for hygiene but maybe, something else entirely. More research on that is needed.
Important Information
Vampire bats are the only mammals that feed off of blood. They can also drink up to half their weight in blood per day. Their other bat relatives only feed off of fruit, insects, or nectar. Most interestingly enough, bats form lasting bonds through regurgitation while in captivity and are still very much intact when they are released into the wild.
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