It’s easy to see how superstitious myths could develop! For the most part, the common vampire bat tends to feed on livestock, but can feed on almost any type of animal – according to vampire bat scientist Gerald Carter, they bite porcupines, snakes, sea lions, armadillos, even penguins. This is possibly due to the more memorable name, but more probably because this bat tends to feed on the blood of other mammals like cows, pigs, dogs, horses (and even occasionally humans), more so than the other two species – which instead prefer feeding on birds like sleeping chickens. Many people may not even know that more than one species of vampire bat exists, but most of us will be familiar with the common vampire bat. There are more than 1,400 bat species in the world, and only 3 of these drink blood: the common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus, the hairy-legged vampire bat Diphylla ecaudata, and the white-winged vampire bat Diaemus youngi, all of which are native to the tropics of Mexico, South America and Central America.
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