The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Physical Characteristics

The vampire bat is two and three quarters to three and three quarters inches long. Its tail is two and a half inches long. It weighs eleven sixteenths to one and five eights of an ounce. It has excellent speed and agility both in the air and on the ground. To move on the ground, the vampire bat props itself up on its forearms and back legs. Its fur is grayish brown with a lighter torso. It has a compact muzzle with a swollen appearance and pointy ears. Its wingspan averages about fourteen inches wide.

Behavioral Characteristics

The vampire bat lives in groups. Its roost where it spends its days may contain hundreds of individual bats. Its roosts are located in tree hollows, trees, caves, mines or old buildings. Unlikely most bats the vampire bat will sometimes scuttle over the ground.

Life Cycle

The vampire bat does not have a specific breeding time, however, most females only give birth to a single young per year and births are more frequent during May, April, October and November. Gestation or pregnancy lasts about seven months. Usually only a single young is born but sometimes twins occur. It takes one month for the young to be weaned from the mother's teats and five months to become fully independent. Both males and females become sexually mature at about two hundred and eighty five days old. The maximum lifespan of the vampire bat is twelve years.

Diet

The vampire bat feeds on the blood of warm blooded animals. Warm blooded animals that are frequently preyed on by vampire bats include birds, tapirs and farm animals. They will even feed on seals or humans if able. The bat first lands near the animal. It then crawls closer to it and will bit away fur or feathers before biting the skin. Over the next thirty minutes it will lick up about one fluid ounce of blood. Its saliva keeps the blood from clotting so that the animal continues to bleed for the entire thirty minutes.

Habitat

The vampire bat lives in Mexico and South America. They are found in arid and humid areas of the tropics and subtropics. It needs heat and are not found in cold areas.

Conservation

The vampire bat is classified as least concern on the IUCN (International Union of Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) red list of threatened species. This classification is the lowest and means the species has a large widespread, population and no current threats that would likely decrease its population in the foreseeable future.

References:

Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife by, David Burnie and Don E. Wilson

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Desmodus_rotundus.html