Vampire bats in Costa Rica
The vampire bat (Desmodus Rotundus) is one of the most common bats from Mexico through Argentina. This peculiar and common bat feeds exclusively from blood of vertebrates. Costa Rica car rental
The superior incisors of the vampire are razor sharp and are used to remove a small piece of flesh from the prey. A number of studies have shown the presence of anticoagulant or fibronolytic activities of the saliva.
The vampire bat is very agile and can walk, hop and run very fast as it needs to be well-coordinated when it feeds on prey that is ten thousands times its size. It has very long “thumbs’ with calluses that help it to move fast and long legs with little fur, and no tail. This small to medium-sized bat is reddish brown to gray brown with pale underparts. Car rental Costa Rica
This curious animals feed on the blood of domestic animals, particularly cattle, horses and poultry. It is important to know that in Costa Rica, these bats are common wherever cattle are raised, and are rare away from livestock. They can live in a variety of environments, from tropical evergreen forest and tropical deciduous forest to man-made open space and pastures.
According to experts it hunts alone or in small groups. Upon locating a prey animal, it lands either directly on its body or on the ground, especially if the prey is bedded down. It bites cattle at various places on the body, usually on the neck.
Vampire bats have a strong sense of smell and larger eyes with better eyesight than most other bats. Their faces are characterized by their enlarged, flattened nose pad instead of the more common nose-leaf shape.
When a vampire locates a prey animal, it lands on the prey or on the ground next to it. On cattle, the bat often bites the neck. It is not easily displaced even when the prey attempts to shake it off. Vampire incisors are very sharp, however their feeding bite is painless. They remove a tiny 3 mm piece of flesh from the prey and have an anticoagulant in their saliva that keeps the blood flowing the entire time that they feed. The vampire will stay attached to its prey for about half an hour, lapping blood from the wound with its long tongue. It has grooves on the underside of the tongue that work like a straw.
A bat needs about 15 ml of blood each day. According to experts they are able to find their previous prey targets on subsequent nights and reopen the incision they made before. For obvious reasons these bats are occasionally responsible for transmitting the rabies virus among livestock.
During the day, vampires roost in tree hollows, caves or wells. These roosts can be easily identified due to their strong ammonia odor and by their dark orange excreta. Self-grooming and social grooming in the roost are very common.
These bats can be spotted in Children’s Eternal Rain Forest, Corcovado National Park, Juan Castro Blanco National Park, E.A.R.T.H. University, La Selva Biological Station, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Rincón de la Vieja National Park and Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve.