Vampire Bats
Intro
Habitat
Appearance
Vampire bats are creepy little creatures. They are very lightweight and weigh 19-57 grams [about 5 colored pencils]. Their height is 3-3.5 inches [7-9 5 cm]. Bats are the only known mammals that can fly, their wingspan is 6.5-10 inches. Wings of a bat are a double layer of skin enclosing muscles and elastic fibers with strong hooked- shaped thumbs. They have short, grayish brown hair on the top of their body and are paler on the bottom of their body. The mouth has a long, grooved tongue with razor sharp canine and upper incisor teeth. They have a short, broad grooved snout. Their eyes are big and dark brown, and have low light eyesight they use echolocation to help navigate and see better when it's completely dark. They have large pointed ears that are forward facing and folded. They have a lifespan of about 12 years in capacity and when living in the wild they have a lifespan of about 9 years.Bats are the only mammals that can fly.
Prey
Friends and Enemies
Vampire bats have many enemies and very few friends. People can poison them and the poison can kill hundreds of bats at a time. Hawks and eagles are common predators.How ever the greater threat is humans because they can cause deforestation. Some other predators are , owls, falcons, South American squirrel monkey,and snakes which strike when vampire bats are sleeping.
Conclusion
The only known mammal that feeds entirely on blood is Dracula, otherwise known as the vampire bat. If people keep poisoning vampire bats they could become endangered. I learned a lot about vampire bats that i didn't know. I hope i can learn a lot more about the vampire bat.
Bibliography
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Rodriguez, Ana Maria. Vampire Bats, Giant Insects, and Other Mysterious Animals of the Darkest Caves. Berkeley Heights, NJ: En slow, 2012. Print.
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