9. These creatures, or more like monsters, were said to be able to transform themselves into bats at will and would fly around looking for victims to drink their blood. Despite this primate-like gesture, it took quite some time for people to understand that bats are mammals and not birds. For example, a number of these countries are investing in the burgeoning industry of ecotourism by promoting organized visits to bat caves and bat watching [74, 75]. Kill the bat before it escapes, and everyone will be safe. The apparent liminality of bats is also reflected in a legend from the Kanarese of India in which bats were originally a type of unhappy bird. Bats are mentioned three times in the Old Testament. Monstrous beyond imagining, all-consuming, blacker than blackest night, the hideous Satan in the Night on Bald Mountain section of Walt Disneys animated film Fantasia (1940) spreads gigantic bat wings as it turns fiery eyes toward the lost souls about to be engulfed in wrath and flames [64]. The bat husband then cut off her head and those of other Indians and put all heads in the tree hole where he was living [55]. A woman noted that her husband had a round tail and dropped the vessel of water she was bringing to him. Even worse have been the vandalism and wanton destruction of bats and their habitat in North America. Large, often man-eating, bats are found in Hawaiian traditions, and there is even a legend of an eight-eyed bat in Hawaii. Men hunt and consume bats more often than women who have fears that consuming bat meat would give them strange or deformed children. In many parts of Indonesia, people specifically consume bats livers and hearts as medicine [39]. He has also contributed to Enchanted Conversation Magazine and his latest Kindle ebook, The Feather of the Firebird is now available. The cave prohibits hunting and guano harvesting, while income from this ecotourism chiefly flows into local economy and enhances the sustainability and protection of the cave site (Figures 7 and 8). dragon, in the mythologies, legends, and folktales of various cultures, a large lizard- or serpent-like creature, conceived in some traditions as evil and in others as beneficent. Many paintings from western Europe in the middle ages depict the devil with bat wings. Presented here are different viewpoints from around the world, followed by a short look at the real significance of bats to humankind. I am a bat ecologist with an interest in how people, culture and beliefs bonds or ties with bats. The myths grew with the 1927 stage production which further associated Dracula with bats. An idea that reflected their ability to fly around so quickly in the dark without hitting anything. Bats have fascinated humans for millennia, and this cultural and spiritual relevance is reflected in the presence of bat symbols in Egyptian tombs from 2000 BC . In 1959, this superstition was still so believed that the Earl of Cranbrook took it upon himself to test the superstitions veracity. Because of the mouses pious respect for the holy wafer, God gave it wings so that it would be able to find plenty of food in the future. Fruit growers may view fruit bats as crop pests [71]. Myth or Fact: Bats are Just Mice with Wings (slide to the left for answer) Text Description for Image Slider The widespread sacrificial association derives largely from the habits of the Common Vampire Bat that feeds exclusively on the blood of vertebrates (Figure 5). On all occasions, the bats were able to escape without becoming entangled. Until we provoked the animals hostility because of our aggressiveness and disregard for their rights, humans and all creatures lived together in harmony, mutual respect, and helpfulness. According to the Serer myth, the creation of the earth began from a swamp. The duality of bats is mentioned in one of Aesops Fables, which tells how a bat fell to the ground and was Betwixt and Between. Our habit of sharing their ancestral living quarters would inevitably have brought bats to our attention from before the dawn of history. Photo credit: Uwe Schmidt. Consult our entry on the Monkey Twins for the full story. Cultural traditions and beliefs influence the future of the bats, which is threatened by human exploitation, both directly on bats and indirectly on the environment. The king ordered that Emiong be arrested and thrown into prison. The first sighting was reported in 1928 by Thodore Monod. Here, we review documented narratives and surveys from around the world and our ethnographic observations from Europe to analyze beliefs associated with bats. Of course, in languages other than English, a bat is not called a bat. We explore the role that bats play in traditional narratives and the likely reasons for their salience, including their connections with the extraordinary and supernatural. Nearly another third reported actively killing bats or destroying bat roosts, and most respondents associated bats with the destruction of farmers fruits, especially mangoes. To a shaman the appearance of a bat does not signify actual or physical death, but more the death of old fears or the old ways of doing things that no longer serve you. Strangely perhaps, given its poor press in Europe, carrying the dried and powdered heart of a bat in your front pocket was supposed to protect you from bleeding to death and later to stop bullets. There is also, of course, the European connection with bats to vampirism. In ancient Egypt it was believed bats could alleviate or cure many ailments including baldness, fever toothache and poor eyesight. The study concluded that conservation-related education should be included in the school curriculum to ensure that students would appreciate not only the importance of bats but of all wildlife [26]. The bat flew to a nearby cave, but each evening it emerged at sunset, telling Jesus that it was time to take food [see Bats and the Netherworld, BATS, Summer 1993; also, see this same article for the converse notion that the devil created bats.). I am a bird. Between the years 1950 and 2007, only 56 cases of bat-borne rabies transmission to humans occurred in the United States and Canada, which translates to 3.9 cases per billion person-years [65]. That is why Emionog the bat is hardly ever seen out during the day anymore. This article has covered some of the main points about bat mythology, superstition, folklore, and persecution. Bats tend to get off on the wrong wing with us humans. In other parts of the world, fruit bats are occasionally hunted in small numbers. In 1332, a French noblewoman, Lady Jacaume of Bayonne [12], was publicly burned to death as a witch because crowds of bats were seen about her house and garden., William Shakespeare (15641616) also equated bats with witches, spells, and curses. One clan of the Cakchiquel Maya, of the highlands of Guatemala, was named the Zotzil (=belonging to the bat), whose deity was a bat. Nowadays, of course, we know that vampires are not real and neither is the ability to turn into a bat. Some bats also pollinate flowers and help disperse seeds. Bats feature in many myths, legends and folklore from diverse cultures around the world, and are often associated with darkness, death and the supernatural. Why Experience the wonder of bats. The remaining cultures had combinations of positive, neutral, and negative values. In another tale from Aesop, a bat borrows money for a business venture that fails. Decapitating bat demons appears in various myths in Amazonia and to the south in northern Argentina. In a Cherokee fable, an eagle, a hawk, and other birds fashioned the first bat and the first flying squirrel from two mouse-like creatures. Stay up to date with the latest news and information about BCI and bats. Liminality aside, many of these myths have obvious roots in the real features of bats. Similarly, the Ge tribe in Brazil moved through the night following a bat that looked for light toward which to guide the people (Figure 4) [51, 52]. Peasant farmers in Mexico used to call bats ratones viejos, which translates to old mice. They thought that when mice grew older, they would develop wings and transform into bats. If you have any questions or if you want to get in touch with us, you can find our contact details on our About Us page. Bat guano provides one reason for the fertility associations [56]. 1. Because they were four-footed, the mouse-like creatures first asked if they could play with the animals, which included a bear, a deer, and a terrapin. In Madurai, worshippers of the Muni god regard Indian Flying Fox Pteropus medius, formerly Pteropus giganteus, as sacred and protect colonies for fear of heavy punishment. Apaches tell a different tale about bats. The Navajo people thought that bats were able to fly between different worlds and act as a bridge between the supernatural and the natural. The bat was central to Maya religion and social structure. The bat represented the opias (= spirits of the dead people) to the Taino. We still are. Aboriginal peoples, however, were describing them long before this. 7. Home > Photo credit: Public domain creative commonsWikimedia. They were believed to destroy trees and damage fruits in gardens. A long time ago, on the opposite side of the earth, the Aztec term for a bat was apparently quimichpapalotl, which means butterfly mouse. In northern Argentina, a Toba story tells of the leader of the very first peoplea hero bat or batman who was teaching people all they needed to know as human beings. It is not just their physical form that makes bats a curiosity. It is merely a passing reference, along with moles, to represent animals that live with things that have been discarded. Only older and somewhat educated people reported more positive attitudes toward bats than others [21]. That nailing a dead bat to your door will protect you from demons, That putting a drop of bats blood under a womans pillow will help her be fruitful. Then he jumped into it and sat in it for a while and then climbed out. Bats play an important role in the ecosystem by eating large quantities of insects. We may never know how these early humans viewed their small flying co-habiters. This persecution has been quite intense and has had negative effects on the whole environment. Usually, it is regarded as a bad omen even if seen in a dream. There are more than 1000 different species of bats in the world, making them the second-largest order of mammals. Despite all the sinister associations bats perform an essential role in the environment, adding greatly to the wellbeing of humanity. Over five hundred species of plants rely on bats for pollination including durian, banana, mango, guava, cocoa and agave. The bat is a devil who flies only in the night because it would die if flying in the daytime [25]. While the three species of true vampire bats (common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus, hairy-legged vampire bat Diphylla ecaudata, and white-winged vampire bat Diaemus youngi) are microbats, measuring just a few centimeters in length, it was the exaggerated reports from early explorers and adventurers that gave the public the image of these huge bloodsucking creatures. The Pomo Indians of California had a superstition that bats could devour volcanic rock and then spew out ready-made arrowheads. Although vampire bats have been known to attack humans and large animals it is usually not fatal, though it has been known to transmit rabies. Bats In the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, spirits, devils, and witches had their general name Bitaboh, wood-goblins being specially called Ronga. All the bats were comprehended under the same name, especially the Yellow-winged Bat Lavia frons, formerly Megaderma frons, which flutters about from tree to tree in broad daylight [18]. These gods and goddesses are some of the more well-known in Africa yet some of the lesser known by people of the the rest of the world. Bats use a form of echolocation to navigate in the dark and to find their prey. People sometimes think of them as blind, bloodthirsty flying mice. A witch shape is believed to be capable to suck out the life of a sleeping man or woman [18]. In Myths of the Cherokee (1900), James Mooney points out that a general theme in American Indian folklore is that, in the beginning, there were no essential differences between humans and animals. Bats in the house mean a death in the house or is a sign that the occupants will soon be leaving. My Amazon Author Page can found here for the UK and for the USA, here. Bat Myths In southwest Asia, bat folklore has been documented between Iran, India, and Myanmar [25, 26, 27]. Contemporarily the bats were divided based upon morphology and behavior into two suborders, Microchiroptera (Microbats) and Megachiroptera (Flying Foxes and Old World Fruit Bats) [4]. Zteve enjoys researching deep into the folklore, myths and legends that run through society and are part of our everyday lives. African Cryptids: 9 Mysterious Monsters of Africa They also don't share behavior with rodents. A world without bats would look very different than the one you know and not for the better. To summarize shortly the various findings: In the West, bats have been seen as animals of ill omen, alongside other nocturnal hunters such as owls and black cats. In fact they are mammals of the scientific order Chiroptera, meaning hand wing in ancient Greek, because their forelimbs have become adapted to be wings. The bat begged to be spared but the weasel insisted that he could not do that because he was an enemy of all birds. One Yupa man in northern Colombia started night after night to drink and flirt with a female bat when he was returning from an evening hunt. Bats are truly remarkable creatures, and fossil records indicate that they first appeared in the Eocene, some 5055 million years ago [1]. 11022198. Licensee IntechOpen. While some cultures see bats as a harbinger of death, others believe that the creature holds the key to eternal life. Bats are often misunderstood. While others say bats resemble an unhappy bird who got lost on its way to find the sun, in Greece during the middle ages, there was a myth that bats arose from mice. Bat Mythology There is a strong association between bats and death. African These are Under the influence! Bats, at least the ones that originate from North-western Europe, look a bit like mice with wings. Between 1985 and 1994, they were removed from the protected fauna list in Queensland. Now that we have looked at some of the most popular bat myths from around the globe, lets take a look at some of the superstitions that people have about these creatures. It tells how a bushrat named Oyot was friends with Emiong the bat and they would often eat together, taking it in turns to cook. Archaeological evidence suggests that before the coming of Europeans, flying foxes were not often used as food by the Australian Aborigines. We love to hear from our readers. One of the most enduring old wives tales from Europe is that bats will get tangled in womens hair and would have to be removed with a pair of scissors. Bat myths Do you know the difference between fact and fiction when it comes to bats? Megabatslarger bats that include fruit batssearch for food using sight and smell. His name means literally One Monkey, which is more than fitting as he turned into one. The Tzotzil Maya lived, and continue to live to this day, on the plateau of Chiapas in southern Mexico. On the other hand, the Tupinamba people believed that the planet would be eaten by a bat at the end of time. Our collection of global perceptions aims to promote a better biocultural richness for humans and bats as our long-term nocturnal companions. The birds took pity on the creatures and fashioned wings for one of them out of the head of a drum made from a groundhog skin, thus creating the first bat.
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